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The Atlanta Semi-Weekly Journal VOLUME XX. HUNS IN BIG RETREAT BEFORE ITALIANS EVACUATE SHOD ON WIDE FRONT TO TJKE DP NEW LINE Retreat Is Sequel to Brilliant French Victory at Monte Tomba. Making Positions Untenable ITALIAN ARMY HEALHI CARTERS IN NORTHERN ITALY. Wednesday, Jan 23. —• B' the Associated Press.) — The enemy has evacuated territory on ttie northern mountain trout behind Monte Tcin*a. extending from the Piave river westward Their defense lines ■lave n«»w been moved back to Monte Spine nc-ia Italian patrols making reconnaissances in the last few days found that the enemy patrols and sentinels had been withdrawn and later discovered that the enemy had abandoned the entire region. This retreat is a sequel to the br.l licnt victory French troops recently obtained on Monte Tomba, inasmuch as the enemy's position thereafter be came untenable The retirement of the enetny is im portant as showing that he has even up his effort to force a passage to the Venetian plains byway of Monte Tomba and the west bank of the Piave. at least ;or the present. He is now constructing defensive works in the rear. Heavy Artillery Believed Prelude to Big Battles NEW YORK. Jan. 34.—« Summary of European Cables.! —On the western tor.t in France and Belgium and on the Italian front, where the contending armies es the chief belligerents in the aorld war have displaced little activity tor som< time, official reports announce a i esumption of hostilities ot unusual activity for winter months. While the operations mentioned in the statements from the various army headquarters are of little consequence from a military view, yet the general extent of the ac tivity indicates that developments of considerable magnitude are in immedi ate prospective Intensity of the artillery tire has in creased all along the western front and raiding parties and air lighting have ooen resumed under more favorable con ditions. The success of a German raid on British trenches west of La Bassee ts announced by the Brt’.sh official com munication. which claims, however, that another hostile party was dispersed west of Villers Guillain- In the Nieu port sector the French war office an nounces the recapture of ground gained by the enemy* in a raid Wednesday morn ing. The French statement also says that the artillery is active in the ‘’haurae wood front and in the sector of Hill 344 and claims the failure o£ an enemy attempt at the former place. During' the period from January 17 to 20. ten German airplanes were brougth down by the French. More intense artillery firing between the Adige and Brenta valleys is re ported in the Italian official statement, which also tells of small engagements on the right bank of the Piave and on the southeastern slopes of Monte Spl noncia. King Albert in his reply to Pope Benedict’s peace note declares that Bel gium will consent to peace only upon the guarantee of absolute political, eco nomic and territorial independence. The note of the Belgian government con ■ ludes with the declaration that the re plies of the central empires to the pope’s note have failed to make mert tion of the ••undisputed rights of Bel gium that his holiness has not ceased to recognize’ami proclaim.’’ French Take Prisoners In New Successful Raid PARIS, Jan 24.—A successful raid east of Auberive in which a few prison ers were taken, was reported in today’s official statement. Italians Are Successful In Small Surprise Attack ROME, Jan 24.—A small party of Italians made a successful surprise at tack at Capo Site, driving back the enemy from an advanced post and barge a quantity of arms and ammuni tion. today's official statement asserted, j THE TRUTH ABOUT BELGIUM Told by Brand Whitlock 9 - W ATCH for the first article, which will appear bornly to the task of keeping this record —and beginning FEBRUARY 19TH. carried it on unceasingly—until now—pe gives us this stupendous story: terrible —-pitiful, magnifl- The Atlanta JOURNAL has secured the exclu cent in its infinitely vital truth —which must stir sire right to publish THIS GREAT STORY in the every true American, and brings us closer to the state of GEORG LA. which will reveal most vividly time—when America strikes—with all her might ac< * accurately at the Destroyer of Belgium. THE AlT E An.H^ L ?nd ß dfn^ T T n-A t e all °7 a “ < * a that inning with the issue of February 19th If your we a generous-minded people have made for seem- time has ex ired or are a Bubscribe / now ingly incredible reports—must be set aside when j th tj t 6 t subscription to us so you Brand Whitlock tells us the terrible truth that drives home the horrible facts. *’ n not miBS a sln Sle part of tins great storj. Our prices are more than reasonable: 75 cents You will hear of the devastation and desola- tor one year, $1 for IS months, $1.25 for two tion from an EYE-WITNESS. You will see cities years or $1.50 for three years. Tell all you see and houses and Cathedrals burned and blasted. about this great story and induce them to sub- You will feel the horror of rapine, and will shrink scribe. If you can raise a club of five or more before the nameless brutality and the murder of subscribers and send to ns at one time we will Edith t’avell. He KNOWS—and tells—powerfully. make a special club price of only 50 cents for a one year’s subscription. Raise a club for us in Faithfully—Brand Whitlock held himself stub- your community. It will not be necessary for you to write a letter if you sign your name and address to this coupon and send to us with your remittance. The Semi-Weekly Journal, Atlanta, Ga.: Enclosed find sfor which send me The Atlanta . Semi-Weekly Journal formonths. Name P O It. F. D. No State Full Associated Press Service AUSTRIAN REVOLT REPORTED MTIONWIOE CAMPAIGN OS MOONSHINERS BEGUN Govern ment Co-operating With States to Stamp Out Illicit Distilleries WASHINGTON. Jan. 24.—Discovery that manufacture of moonshine whisky is increasing rapidly in "bone dry” states and that quantities have been sold illicitly to -soldiers in southern eamps, caused Internal Revenue Com missioner Roper to announce today a nation-wide campaign against illegal distillation in co-operation with state governors. The military camps where moonshine liquor lias been sold most, in spite ot precautions by military and civil au thorities, are Camps Wadsworth, at Spartanburg, S. C.; Sevier, at Green ville, S. Jackson, at Columbia. S. C., and Oglethorpe, at Chattanooga Investigations about these and other camps still are underway. The cam paign already has resulted in arrests of hundreds of moonshiners in southern dry states. State laws forbidding im portation and the federal tax ot $3.20 a gallon have driven the price of crude Corr. liquor about many camps to $8 and sl2 a quart, according to evidence by revenue agents. Commissioner Roper has obtained from many governors rpeciiic indorse ment of the antl-liquor campaign. Some state executives and local officials, how ever. wer? reluctant to furnish the start agents required for the work. To Clean Out Stills Special efforts will be made to clean out stills in the dry states where condi tions are reported worst. Illegal manu facture is thriving best in Virginia, North Carolina. South Carolina, Geor gia, Tennessee. Arkansas, according'to reports of revenue agents. State agents already are at work vigorously in some of these states To a lesser degree the traffic in "moun tain dew' is reported from Florida. Ala bama, Mississippi. Kentucky. Oklahoma and a number of other states. Officials have gathered evidence that in Kansas, lowa and Oregon illegal manufactory Is on the increase. The campaign now planned is the re sult of a special canvass of dry states started several monthse ago by direction of Commissioner Roper. An experienced revenue agent was sent to confer with the governors of dry states and to gath er evidence of uncurbed liquor manu facture in those states. The governors were told that the force of federal in spectors is inadequate to ferrets «out the thousands of hidden stills and obtain evidence on which to base prosecutions. The task is made particularly difficult because the scheme of giving bonuses to informants on illicit stills has been abandoned. The government has ceased to have a revenue interest in dry states, it was explained, and the burden of Georgian Befuses Officials pointed out today that moon shiners in dry states now are breaking not pnly feedral revenue and state pro hibition laws, but also the food act for bidding use of grain and fruits in man ufacture of liquor. The open refusal or ill-coneea’.ed re luctance of mlny sheriffs and other lo cal officials to assist government agents in running down moonshiners was a fac tor in causing Commissioner Roper to anonunce the open campaign. The case of a north* Georgia sheriff who refused to aid on the ground that the county officers were "in favor of whisky" was cited in this connection. A report presented today to Commis sioner Roper by Chief Revenue Agent Nutt shows that nearly 80 per cent of the illegal stills seized recently in Vir ginia were in Patrick. Wise. Franklin. Pittsylvania. Halifax and Henry coun ties. Conditions have been found to be bad in Mecklenberg. Floyd. Carroll Grayson. Nelson. Amherst. Madison, Greeia Dickinson and Buchanan coun ties. In North Carolina, 54 of the 100 counties are known as “good moonshine territory" and nearly 700 stills have been seized and destroyed in a year, t (Continued on Page 3, Column 5.) I GERMANY SEETHES WITH DISCONTENT ON EVE OF SPEECH Chancellor Hertling to Address Reichstag in • Atmosphere Surcharged With Ominous Mutterings at Home LONDON, Jan. 24.—The impressions conveyed in today's dispatches from Switzerland and Holland regard ing the internal situation in Germany on the eve of Chancellor von Hertling’s expected address before the reichstag is one of discontent among the masses suppressed the triumphant hand of the military party. Efforts of the German censorship to prevent public knowledge ol the Aus trian strikes and peace demands suc ceeded for a time, but the news leaked through gradually and Austrian events seem now to be widely known by Ger* man workers. The Austrian hope that the latter would follow their lead has not, how ever, materialized, while German news papers , which ventured to hold out a hand to the Austrian proletariat have been suppressed. Nevertheless, accord ing, to the Post's Amsterdam dispatches, the rebellious sentiments of German workers, especially Independent social ists, are becoming stronger. This is partly attributable to the altitude of the German delegates at the Brest-Litovsk conference which caused widespread dis content as was manifested by the tu multuous scenes at numerous meetings Os the fatherland party. Wilson Sowed Seeds The Dutch Catholic journal Tyd prints an article received through an indirect channel from its correspondent in Ger many in which he says that “events at Brest-Litovsk and President Wilson's new peace formula, which in wide cir cles is considered a suitable basis for the regulation of society of the future, have prepared the ground for the Bol sheviki tendency." "It is recognized in educated circles," says the writer, "that the wooden horse has been .brought In at Brest-Litovsk and there is anxiety lest the German attitude in the negotiations may lead to a division among the people. The masses turned away from the veiled annexationist lust of power formulated by General Hoffman.” ‘ Continuing tire writer speaks of the rebellious temper of the factory popula tion ’tn the industrial centers and adds:, “No wonder fear fs expressed here and there that the people, disgusted wjth the postponed suffrage reform, furious with the pan-Germans, exhausted in body and fortune, and deprived of the hope of the restoration of national and individual happiness will itself take the settlement of Its lot into its own hands if any great military setback is suffered. The failure of separate peace I with Russia would also give the signal for an incalculable reaction at a mo ment when the nervous strain is well , nigh unbearable." Imoprtant Conferences An incident in the Saxon lower house i on Monday, the Tyd correspondent says is indicative of the popular sentiment. , The king of Saxony recently sent a tele gram to the fatherland v party advocat ing a "safe peace.” This was sharply censured by the Socialists in the cham ber. The Socialist vice president, Frassedorf, said that the king was hazi ly misinformed and badly advised by his ministers and declared that the peo ple took quite a different standpoint from the fatherland party. It is in such an atmosphere, if re ports quoted are accurate, that Chancel lor von Hertling meets the reichstag to speak to his own eountryment and the world. His newspaper supporters say that the chancellor is in no wise shaken by the recent politicaJ crisis, but on the contrary he has the emperor’s full con fidence. Important conferences are re ported to have been renewed on Mon day. Tuesday end Wednesday wherein Field Marshal von Hindenburg, General von Ludendorff. Chancellor von Hertling and Dr. von Kuehlmann, secretary for foreign affairs, participated with the emperor. ATLANTA, GA., FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 1918. fl (HIED, » HURT DURING BIDE 111 MOSCOW Hun Delegates to Peace Con ference Deliver Ultimatum to Russians PETROGRAD, Jan. 24.—Forty per sons were killed and 200 wounded in riots at Moscow on Tuesday during a demonstration at anniversary celebra tion of "bloody Sunday." Hoffman Insists on Annexation Terms PETROGRAD, Wednesday, Jan. 33. Russia must give up Courland and all the Baltic provinces or the Germans will resume miltary operations and oc cupy Reval within a week, the German delegation at the Brest-Litovsk nego tiations, informed the Russian repre sentatives at the last session of the con ferees. An adjournment was taken un til January 29 to permit the Russians to consider the German terms. Reports of the session indicate that the Germans took a definite stand and . most frankly outlined demands upon which they are insistent. The secre tary of the Ukrainian delegation gave out an account of the meeting. It says the Russians put a question to the dele gates of the central powers as to what were their final peace terms. General Hoffman, one of the German delegates, replied by opening a map and pointing out the following line, which they insisted should constitute the fu ture frontier of Russia: From the shores of the Gulf of Fin land to the east of the Moon Sound islands to Valk, to the west of Minsk, to Brest-Litovsk. This completely eliminates Courland and all the Baltic provinces. The Russians asked the terms of the central powers in regard to the terri tory south of Brest-Litovsk. General Hoffman replied that was a question which they would discuss only with Ukraine. M- Kameneff, a member of the Russian delegation, asked: “Supposing we do not agree to such conditions, what are you going to do?" General Hoffman's answer is reported to have been: "Within a week then we would occupy Reval.” The Russian then asked for a recess which was granted reluctantly. The Germans declared it was the last post ponement to which they would consent. The request was njade by Leon Trotzky, head of the Russian delegation, who said 'he desired an opportunity to lay the German peace terms before the council | of workmen’s and soldiers’ delegates. The negotiations between the Ukrai nians and the central powers are pro ceeding amicably. The Austrians of fered to cede Cholmtchlna to the Ukrai nian republic but only on condition that the Ukrainians send grain and other foodstuffs to the central powers imme- I diately on tiie conclusion of peace. GM GIGS CAPTURED : iii com counit Officer Cates Arrests Last of • Three Escaped Convicts From Utoy Camp After a three-day chase, Dan Carr, , the last of the four convicts who es caped from the Utoy camp early Mon day morning, was captured about 6 o'clock Wednesday night in Coweta county by County Officer C. L. Cates. The fugitive was taken at a point ■ about ten miles from Palmetto and some eight miles from the Atlanta and West Point railroad line, toward which it is thought he was making his way. He had secured civilian clothes in some manner and was wearing an over coat when arrested by the officer. When and how he disposed of his stripes he refused to reveal. Carr also carried a razor, but with this exception was without weapons. Officer Cates, who, by the way, cap tured Carr when he attempted to escape a few months ago, had gone on ahead of the pursuing posse and dogs and cut in on a road where Carr might be ex pected to pass. He soon caught sight of the convict, who refused to halt at the command of Officer Cates, but continued running in a new direction. Cates fired four times and Carr finally threw up his hands, begging the officer not tc kill him. County Officer C. E. Lyle came up at this juncture and Carr was taken back to the Utoy camp. Carr, J. P. Keel, Lunsford and Lloyd Brewer escaped from the Utoy camp before daybreak Monday, sawing their chains and smashing the lock on the guardroom door while the guards were in the kitchen. Brewer was re captured within a few hours, while ! Lunsford was overtaken Monday after- I noon. Keel was arrested Tuesday • night while attempting to steal an au ’ tomobile on the Campbellton road. SI,OOO From Sale of i Sugar Seized at Illicit Stills Declared Forfeited _ Approximately SI,OOO obtained i through the sale of sugar seized by fed eral agents at illicit stills was declared forfeited Wednesday afternoon to the I United States government by Judge William T. Newman, in the United ■ States district court. The sugar was seized September 14. | ' last year, at Henry McKee’s barn in j IvUinpkin county, by deputy collectors of i internal revenue and deputy United | ; States marshals. The property was i claimed by M. M. Anderson, a merchant of Dawsonville. I Tn a similar case the court Friday ’ morning forfeited to the government money obtained as a result of the sale i of 1,400 pounds of sugar claimed by > John Anderson, brother of M. M. An- : | derson. Sen. Chamberlain Answers Wilson in Senate Speech Declares President Is Ignorant of True Situation and In efficiency of War Depart ment Officials WASHINGTON. Jan. 24.—Standing firmly by his charge that America’s mil itary establishment is enmeshed in in efficiency, Senator Chamberlain, of Ore gon. chairman of the military commit tee, replied in the senate today to Presi dent Wilson’s denunciation of his recent New York speech, by repeating the statement which drew the president’s fire, and declaring that the president himself does not know the truth. Senator Chamberlain read a letter re ceived from President Wilson opposing the creation of a minister of munitions. ; He said he did this to counteract the I president’s charge that he had not been consulted regarding proposed legisla tion. After speaking nearly three hours. Senator Chamberlain concluded with a plea that he was only doing his duty in arousing the country to its danger, and that he would support the presi dent although "grossly maligned.” Sen ator Kirby, of Arkansas, a Democrat, took up the reply. Senator Chamberlain declared he would show that the deaths of the hundreds and thousands of men at cantonments and camps were due to the war depart ment and “that all epidemics could have been prevented if the war department had been effective.” Six thousand people clamored for ad mittance to senate galleries which hold fewer than 1,000. Not since the presi dent’s war declaration message has there been such excitement at the cap itol as developed today. In beginning his address, Senator Chamberlain said the president had at tacked both his veracity and integrity, heretofore unchallenged, but that in re plying he did so without any personal feeling against the president. "For twenty-four years.” Senator Chamberlain said, “I have served the public in my state to the best of my ability and in all that time I have never had by veracity called in question nor my integrity Impeached, and I have passed through some -bitter campaigns. llt is, therefore, with some feeing of humiliation and also sadness that I rise to a question of pers’onaJ privilege when my veracity has been called in question, not by an ordinary citizen; not by one of my colleagues but by a very distin guished gentleman who has the love and admiration ofthe people and who by their suffrage occupies the highest place in the gift of the people and, I may say, the highest place of any man in the world. "It is therefore with much feeling that I rise to address myself to the at tack made upon me and I do so without any feeling of unkindness." Country Involved • *■ "These personal charges against me amount to nothing to |he American peo ple but affect policies which may in volve the future of this country if not th® entire world.” Senator Chamberlain said he had been invited to speak before the National Security league, accepted on short no tice and without time to prepare an address. He recalled that on the dais with him were Alton B. Parker, Theo dore Roosevelt and Julius Kahn and that the audience was "a representative body that for patriotism can not be ex celled by any like body in the United States.” He then reiterated that he as symed responsibility for the speech as reported by newspapers and had read to the senate a verbatim report pub lished in the New York Times. Senator Chamberlain, after having read to the senate a verbatim copy of the speech for which the president de nounced him, declared that he adhered to what he had said. Press Reports Accurate Upon his return to Washington. Sena tor Chamberlain said he received a letter from President Wilson containing a quo tation from the New York World and asking if the quotation was correct. The president wrote that he did not like to comment on the statement until he knew positively that the senator had actually made them. The letter was received too late for a reply Sunday, Senator Chamberlain continued, "but in a letter sent to the White House the following day, he re plied that he had been quoted substan tially correct in the World, but asked the president to read the entire speech as printed in the Times instead of only a part of it. Senator Chamberlain's letter added that he was discussing only the policy "or lack of policy” of the military es tablishment. After stating his exper ience in the military affairs and testi mony in the committee’s investigations, the senator’s letter continued: "I believe I know something about the deficiencies m the military establish- I ment. deficiencies which are clearly rec ognized and proven in a system that ought to be remodeled for the prop er prosecution of the war and have these disjointed and unco-ordinat ed defects weeded out.” Received No Reply In his letter the senator also offered to go over the whole situation with the president, but said he received no reply ; and on the following day the president's statement criticizing him was published. wh>?h statement 1 adhere and repeat i before this body. "The people of this country may not see this as I do. but as chairman of the ! military committee, as an American citizen and a member of this distin ' guished body I felt that I should say ; the things that are in me and if 1 succeed in making a rift in the clouds through which the American people may : see I w|l feel that my efforts have I not been in vain.” "Now that my truthfulness lias been questioned," Senator Chamberlain co:i --| tinued. "1 feel it my duty to tell the j country something I might not have told It under ordinary circumstances. GOYEIMMENT CDNTROL MB ENIERGEKCI MOIE Administration Bill Modified So as to Remove Fear of Ultimate Ownership WASHINGTON, Jan. 24. —The admin istration railroad bill has been modified to stipulate expressly that federal op eration is undertaken as a war emer gency measure, and shall not prejudice the future policy of the government to ward ownership of the roads. No specific time, however, is fixed for turning the roads back to private owners. I do it as a man who loves his country best of all and who would willingly give his life for it 1 do it fearlessly in an American citizen who desires to help and not to hinder.” Buying Supplies Prom France He repeated he had not distorted the truth in his speech made in New York, but that owing to the great rush of business due to the war the president has probably not been able to ascer ; tain the truth and does not know the ' truth. From the lips of those closest ' to the president, the chief executive can not learn the truth, not because his ad ' visers desire to misled him, but be cause they are situated in the same positjon as he. * • "The secretary of war, in a general statement tothe country which was carefully and ably prepared, tells us that $3,200,000,000 have been appro priated for the ordnance department and that contracts for $1,677,000,000 have been awarded,’’ he continued. "This is true, but the secretary failed to tell the country that America failed to stand prepared" "France, bled white,” he continued, "is furnishing America today and the troops going abroad with heavy ordnance, ma chine guns and airplanes. If we re lied on the ordnance department in this emergency, (and this is a war of ar tillery) Lis war would be completed before we ever got enough to the front. France agreed to deliver this artillery. To win America? Did she furnish it in order to invite America?” * It was improper, he said, to give de tails cf American purchases of .ordnance from the aGEes. but referred senators to the confidential testimony before the comm ttee by Major General Crozier, chief of ordnance. “If the administration had wanted to be feir to the American people,” he shouted, “why didn’t the distinguished secretary of war, and I have the high est regara fcr him, let the people know so that the people could assist in get t’ng leady for this terrible calamity that confronts-not only America but the whole world ’ Attacks Ordnance Bureau Senator Chamberlain charged that the ordnance bureau failed in 1916 to pre pare for war when it s*eemed certain. "There were omens in the sky,” he continued, "that America couldn’t Veep out. What was the ordnance department doing? Nothing. It was lying supinely on its back, not making gauges for manufacturing ordnance nor discovering the possibilities of manufacturing—but doing nothing, absolutely nothing.” appropriations for jigs and dies to make ordnance, he said, had not been used. I’m not blaming anybody in par ticular,” the senator continued. "I have high regard for General Crozier. But we haven’t been able to do what Eng land, France and aJI our other allies have done and that is to retire these gentlemen who have not proven them selves up to the mark. We ought not to dismiss them in disgrace, but in other countries they have gone into innocuous desuetude. "This isn’t a question of personali ties. This is not a question between the president of the United States and myself. It’s a question of America, and every man ought to make it his whole purpose to see that America is saved.” Machine Gun Situation “Take the machine gun,” said senator Chamberlain. "It’s an old controversy and much may be said on both sides. The Lewis gun has been manufactured here for the British army and there are 7,000 of them on the battle fronts. Every British officer I have seen has expressed approval of that gun. America was pre pared to produce them but with the country standing on a seething volcano the ordnance department was trying to decide on a gun. The war department didn’t even adopt a gun until May, and finally adopted it in June. 1917. I believe, and then only on paper and it still is a gun on paper. It never has had a field test. May be the Browning gun is a good weapon but the Lewis is doing good work. Why not manufacture the Lewis guns?” The secretary of war testified before the committee, he recalled, that in Sep tember the United States had nine Browning guns "with which to go out The president’s statement and Sena tor Chamberlain’s reply then were read to the senate, and the Oregon senator observed: "I do not Know if any reply to my i lett-y was necessary. I assume that state-rent is the answer.” "The statement of the president chai- I lenses me, of course, for proof of the j statement in the New York Times ‘p | against the millions of Germany.” He de-I nounced the cry that investigation gives information to the enemy. People Should Know "Germany knows more about America today than the men conected with the departments,” Senator Chamberlain de clared. If the government would be frank with the people, “then we could rely upon the people to rally to the sup port of the president and the prosecu tion of the war,” he added. Great Britain, he said, did not waste time manufacturing guns. The United (ContlnuAd on Pa<e 3, Column 3.) NUMBER 35. WIRELESS PICKED DP i ■ 81 PEffIOGMD TELLS : OF VIEMIW ’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs irf I Russia Announces Receipt ofi Message Telling of Revolu tion in Austria ; [ GERMANS ABOUT : AS BAD OFF AS THE AUSTRIANS COPENHAGEN, Jan. ”4.——**Ti*e German government is' playing with fire; Germany’s situation ts but little different /from Austria’s.” Philip Scheidemann, leader of the German majority socialists so warn > cd the German authorities in a speech before the main committee of the reichstag. reported in the socialist i organ, Vorwaerts, received here to day. ’• X— PETROGRAD, Jan. 24.—-A wireless message received by he Bolsheviki o day announced a revoluion in Vienna The dispatch was received by Smolny Institue, headquarters of the Trotzgy- Lenine government. It decided that the revolutionists e hav» named a provisional cabinet i The minister of foreign affairs made i the message public. He declared the report as received did not give the names of the provisional ministry nor any further details than the bare men i tion of the revolution. The message to the Smolny Institute is the first rumor of an actual revolu tionary movement in Austria-Hungary. Dispatches tor the past week have re ported great social and economic unreat in the dual empire. The people were re\ ported Incensed at the militarist, annexationist attitude of Teutonic peace delegates at Brest-Litovsk. They were represented as crying out for peace, to end a war weariness constantly increas ing and manifest through a general strike throughout the tdual monarchy. The Bolsheviki from the very first have sought unceasingly to overthrow the Teutonic government by a movement | of the people—precisely as the Russian I people overthrew the czar. They went I a step further than President Wilson K has urged. Bolshevik’ propagandists be- M gan sowing the seed of a social uprls- ■ ing immediately after the armistice be- ■ came effective on the northern fronts. The closest fraternization between sians and Austrians was noted every- W where. Russian revolutionary literature W was spred broadcast. About ten days ago Swiss reports car ried rumors of a general striks move- , ment gaining headway in Emperor Karl’s nation. Apparently this started in Hun gary—which has always been restive under Austrian domination and whose people are racially related to th# Rus sians. Budapest was the scene of a number of demonstrations for peace; newspapers there openlj* denounced German junker leaders as endangering all hopes of peace with Russia through their insistence on annexationist aims. Vienna apparently joined next in the general unrest. A number of strikes were reported nearly a week ago. Food demonstrations followed. The general strike movement spread rapidly through out the nation. Austria immediately clapped on a rigid censorship. Her frontiers were ordered closed. But even through this veil occasional reports sift ed into Switzerland indicating almost complete parlysis of Industry in Aus tria-Hungary. It is possible that with the Bolsheviki wish for a revolution in Austria-Hun gary father to the thought, Smolny in stitute dispatches may be merely an ex aggerated report of the general strike movement. As against this, however, is the fact that such a message was ac tually received by wireless—indicating that some revolutionary force in the country may have control of this system of communication. Dispatches from Washington during the past two days have expressed the American government’s warning to all people that the Teutonic autocrats would not be above a ’gigantic hoax in spread ing broadcast the impression that con ditions in the central empires were near the breaking point—the scheme be ing thus to influence Americans to re-* lax war preparations under the belief that President Wilson’s plea to the Ger man peoples to form a democratic gov ernment had borne fruit. Russia is peculiarly susceptible ground for Germanic propaganda at the present time. It is entirely within the bounds of conjecture that the Germans may have “planned” such a wireless message with the hope that the Bolshe viki enthusiasts would hurry to accept the separate peace proposals of Ger many and her allies on the assumption that the Germanic peoples were ready to join with the Russian proletariat. 200.000 Austrian Strikers Still Holding Out in Vienna COPENHAGEN, Jan. 24.—Austrian socialist leaders are “experiencing diffi culty in controlling the extremists of their party.” according to delayed mes sages received today from Vienna. The dispatches reported 200,000 Vien nese still striking. At Budapest th* strike partially continues. No Confirmation of Revolt Can Be Had in London LONDON, Jan. 24.—Up to' 10:15 o’clock today there was no confirmation here of the Smolny institute wireless (CoatiniMd on Page 3, Coltnxux 1.)
