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VOLUME VI.
GREAT BRITAIN TO
STAND BY FRANCE
No Peace For The World Till Germany
Is Made Powerless Or Free,
Balfour Tells Commons
DISCUSSES ALLIES’ WAR AIMS
France Not Fighting For Alsace-Lor
raine Alone, But For Very
Existence
London. —John Annan Bryce, Liberal,
referring in the house of commons to
the recent statement of Lord Robert
Cecil, minister of blockade, that the
dismemberment of Austria was not
one of Great Britain’s war aims, said
the statement would create difficul
ties because Great Britain’s engage
ments with her allies could not be
continued if the Austrian empire was
to be maintained. Italy, on the
strength of these entanglements, Mr.
Bryce said, would not be content
merely with a rearrangement of the
Trentino region.
The references by Mr. Bryce and
others to Great Britain’s war aims,
including Noel Buxton, who said that
an unfortunate impression had got
abroad in Europe as a result of the
speeches in the house of commons last
week, that Great Britain favored a
policy of annexation, but would not
define her aims, brought an interest
ing reply from A. J. Balfour, the for
eign secretary. Mr. Balfour said the
government had been asked to de
clare its policy, but he was not sure
if that would be a wise course. The
broad questions animating the gov
ernment, had been expounded by the
late and present premier, the foreign
secretary and others who held high
office during the past three years.
When every ministerial statement was
treated as a pledge, it was dangerous
to accede to requests for definite an
nouncements. x
Impossible To Tell What Will Happen
With respect to the Jugoslav and
Austrian question, said the secretary,
it was impossible to foretell the posi
tion in which the world would find
itself when these problems came to
be decided, and he would be doing a
very ill service to the country were he
to attempt to define the position now.
The government believed that the na
tionalities composing that heteroge
nous state should be allowed to de
velop along their own lines and to
carry on their civilization in their
own way.
Entered War To Defend Belgium
“As everybody knows,” continued
Mr. Balfour, “we first entered the war
to defend Belgium and prevent France
from being crushed before our eyes.
Nobody with the smallest knowledge
of the facts supposed that Sir Edward
Grey, formerly foreign secretary, and
the government, of which he was a
member when he made the fateful dec
laration on August 3, 1914, made it
with the smallest thought of the great
problens which the course of the war
has opened up. We did not enter the
war for any selfish purposes, certainly
not for imperialist aims or to get in
demnities. Our purposes were com
pletely unselfish; therefore, we stood
in a different position from any of
our allies. We hoped to see Europe
freer and more stable.”
Crush Germany To Save The World
Madison Barracks, New York. —In a
speech here before seventeen hundred
members of the officers' reserve corps,
Secretary of State Robert Lansing,
emphasizing the peril of German im
perialism to the United States and
the world, declared his belief that the
German people would not cast off the
yoke of autocracy “until the physical
might of the united democracies of
the world has destroyed forever the
evil ambitions of the military rulers
of Germany.” That, he added, is the
only way to restore the peace of the
world.
Blalock Is Not To Lose His Office
Washington. —Publication in Geor
gia that A. O. Blalock, internal collec
tor, is slated forr removal has occa
sioned surprise and aroused resent
ment in administration circles in
Washington. The published story is
without a scintilla in foundation, ac
cording to Internal Revenue Collector
Osborne.
Peace Speech Is “Hollow Affair"
Washington—German Chancellor
Michaelis’ peace interview is regard
ed at the state department as another
German attempt t* bolster up public
opinion at home, appeal to the peace
sentiment in enemy and neutral coun
tries, and create dissensions between
the allies. At the Russian embassy,
it was stated to be wholly incorrect in
fact. State department officials say
that Germany attempts by innuendo
to fasten on France a vast campaign
df conquest
NUMBER 40.
TO BE LONG AND BLOODY WAR!
— i
No Attempt Made By Washington To i
Minimize The Seriousness
■ Os Situation
Washington.—No attempt is made
here to minimize the seriousness of
the situation in the war theaters in
Europe. The United States is in the
war, and will go through with it; but
any hope of a short struggle has gone
glimmering with the apparent almost
complete collapse of the Russian war
machine. The development was not
unexpected by many army officers.
When the offensive of July 1 was
started by the Russian forces, the most
frequent comment heard here was that
it was probably the dying kick of the
old Russian machine.
For the United States, the Russian
collapse may have an immediate and
direct bearing. It will, if the German
general staff presses its advantage and
releases additional German forces to
bolster up the western front where
American troops are to be engaged.
The German line in the west has not
been seriously impaired at. any point,
officers here believe. They do not
claim to know specifically the situa
tion all along the battle front, but they
are unable to see that the British and
French have wrested from the Ger
mans any key position of such import
ance that it can be used next year to
hurl the enemy back toward the
Rhine.
It has been noted, in fact, that the
one strategic advantage gained in re
cent fighting was gained by the Ger
mans. Many officers here believe that
when a small sector of the British line
in Belgium was overwhelmed the Ger
mans materially improved the situa
tion on their weakest front. That view
is based on the opinion that the only
hope of decisive attainments for the
allies in the west lies in rolling up
the German right flank, where it
reaches the sea in Belgium. If that
could be done, it is argued that the
U-boat bases could be stamped out,
and the only offensive instrument of
the Germans be eliminated entirely or
so seriously impaired as to make it
ineffective. The big question, of course,
is whether it could be done. It would
require combined army and navy op
erations on that part of the Belgian
coast held by the Germans, for it
would be necessary to force a landing
behind their line.
RUSSIA’S WOMEN TROOPS
TURN THE TIDE OF BATTLE
Unstable Soldiers Shamed By Fearless
Charge Os The Legion
Os Death
Petrograd.—Charging fearlessly over
a shell-torn field when their men com
rades had deserted, Russian women
fighters in their first battle took 102
prisoners—two of them officers.
Dispatches from the Dvinsk front
added to the glory of the women’s le
gion of death. They gave an addition
al casualty list, of a dozen wounded,
including Mme. Bochkariova, com
mander of the battalion. The second
in command Mlle. Skryblova, was suf
fering from severe shell shock. All
were sent to Minsk for temporary
treatment and will later be brought
back to Petrograd.
The girls “went over the top" in
the charge with fierce impetuosity, fir
ing as they hurried forward to meet
the enemy and utterly without fear.
Their example shamed unstable troops
nearby who had started deserting, and
it was undoubtedly the heroism of the
women soldiers that turned the tide
of battle in favor of the Russians.
The prisoners captured by the girls
expressed the utmost astonishment
and chagrin when they learned the sex
of those who had so fiercely attacked
their position.
A hundred thousand citizens and
soldiers at Pottava assembled with
bands and flags to give frenzied greet
ing to several of the wounded wom
en who passed through there from the
front. Everywhere along the route
of the hospital train crowds choked
railway stations to watch for the “le
gion of death” fighters and to applaud
their heroic work at the front.
President Cautions Exemption Cases
Washington. — Selective service
boards must adjust claims before it dis
passionately; there must be no exer
cise of sympathy, affection or favorit
ism. Thus Provost Marshal General
Crowder counseled in a letter sent all
local boards on the eve of drawing the
national army.
Large Number Enlisting As Volunteers
New York. —America’s men of fight
ing age are flocking into war service.
An unprecedented wave of enlist
ments in the army, navy and marine
corps is sweeping the country. Men
of selective service age, whose num
bers were drawn far down in the mas
ter list and who tear they may not
be called for army duty, are crowding
recruiting stations throughout the na
tion. The first rush came immediate
ly after drawing day, recruiting offi
cers declare. Reports gathered show
the rush to colors Is country wide.
©hr fhlldta
IRWINTON, WILKINSON COUNTY, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 1917.
ALLIES ACCUSED OF
PROLONGING WAR
Chancellor Michaelis Says Great Britain
Does Not Desire Peace By Agree
ment And Understanding
WANTS TO ENSLAVE GERMANY
German Leader Declares If He And
Lloyd George Could Get Together
They Could Reach Agreement
London. —According to a Reuter dis
patch from Zurich, Mathias Erzberger,
one of the leaders of the Clerical cen
ter in the German reichstag, who has
just arrived there, declared to the Zu
richer Nachrichten:
“If I could talk with Lloyd George,
the British prime minister, or Mr.
Balfour, British foreign secretary, we
could in a few hours reach an under
standing which would enable official
peace negotiations to commence.”
Herr Erzberger, who has taken a
prominent part with respect to peace
during the last months, asserts that
Doctor Michaelis, the imperial Ger
man chancellor, is a peace chancel
lor.
Germany Ready For Peace
Berlin. —Dr. Georg Michaelis, the
German imperial chancellor, summon
ed a large number of newspaper men,
to whom he declared:
“The speech of David Lloyd George,
the British premier, at Queen’s hall,
London, and the recent debate in the
British house of commons again have
proved with indisputable clearness that
Great Britain does not desire peace by
agreement and understanding, but only
a conclusion of the war which means
the enslavement of Germany to the ar
birtary violence of other enemies.
“Proof of this may be seen in the
fact that Sir Edward Carson, member
of the British war cabinet, recently
declared in Dublin that negotiations
with Germany would begin only after
the retirement of German troops be
yond the Rhine. In response to a
question put by Commoner Joseph
King, A. Bonar Law, the spokesman of
the British government in the house
of commons, modified this declaration
by fixing the standpoint of the Brit
ish government as being that if Ger
many wanted peace she first of all
must declare herself willing to evac
uate the occupied territories.
“We possess clear proofs that the
enemy gives assent to a declaration
going even further than that impu
dently made by Sir Edward Carson.
You all know that detailed informa
tion regarding the French plans of
conqust, approved by Great Britain
and Russia, has been circulated for
weeks past in the neutral press and
that it has not been denied up to the
present.
“It would be of the greatest import
ance for the enlightenment of the
whole world regarding the true rea
sons for the continuation of the san
guinary massacre cf nations for it to
be known that written proofs of our
enemies’ greed for conquest have since
fallen into our hands. I refer to re
ports of the secret debate on June
2, in the French chamber of depu
ties.
ROUTED RUSSIAN TROOPS
REACH RUSSIAN SOIL
Center Armies Entirely Out Os Gali
cia—Northern And Southern Ar
mies Continue To Retreat
New York. —Having retreated a dis
tance of approximately one hundred
miles from where Kerensky, the iron
man of Russia, carried them in his
personally conducted drive early in
the present month, the Russian army
on the center of the line in East Ga
licia is again on Russian soil on both
sides of Husiatyn and is still bein„
followed by the forces of the Teutonic
allies.
Likewise the armies to the north and
south continue to fall back before the
enemy
So fast has been the retirement of
the Russians and the advance of the
enemy toward Bukowina. that already
an arc-like formation has been thrown
westward of Czernowitz, the capital,
with the northern end resting on
Woclawicee, 250 miles distant, and the
southern end to the east of Kuty, on
the western border of the crown land.
Embargo Grip Is Tightening Daily
Washington.—Uncle Sam’s embargo
grip on the waiser's throat is tighten
ing day by day. Its effect is keenly
felt on both sides of the Atlantic.
There are neutral protests from Hol
land and Scandinavia, and from Amer
ican exporters. Some of the latter
seem to have imagined the embargo
would lift the British blockade and
that things would be easier. They
have discovered Uncle Sam is not go
ing off half-cocked. To enforce a real
embargo takes an elaborate organiza
tion.
CROWN PRINCE IS DEFEATED
German Troops Hurled Back By The
French For The Seventh Con-
secutive Time
With the French Armies in the
Field. —Two hundred and fifty guns
were massed over the two mile front
on which the German crown prince
tried for the seventh successive night
to wrest ground from French lines on
the Chemin des Dames.
It was prabably the most concen
trated violent assault of all the seven
days 1 fighting the French have with
stood. Eleven German sausage bal
loons were sent aloft for artillery
range work and German guns massed
only a few hundred feet apart on the
two mile front poured an inferno of
fire on the French troops. The Ger
mans concentrated their effective
forces for the assaulting waves. They
attacked with bitter desperation. The
crown prince’s plan of strategy this
time was to suddenly transfer his at
tack from the east of Hurtebise to
the west of that town.
The three kilometer (two mile- con
centrated attack, however, won noth
ing more for the Germans than the
previous six days’ battle over the five
kilometer front (three and one-tenth
miles).
Between Chevreaux and Hurtebise
the French had regained all positions
lost during the first few days of the
fighting. They held completely the
plateaus of Craonne and Californie and
the Casemates. At some points they
had extended their lines beyond the
original positions.
Supporting the belief of tremendous
losses inflicted on the attacking troops
it became known that in an attack
the Prussian degiment lost half of
their effectives in a few hours.
ORDERS TO THE PRESS
BY U. S. CENSOR CREEL
More Drastic Rules Announced Be
cause of Alleged Repeated
Violations
Washington.—A new list of press
regulations, making material changes
in the voluntary censorship rules un
der which American newspapers have
been operating was promulgated by
the committee on public information.
■Q’he new regulations contain the first
general request that there be no pub
lished mention o* the arrival of Amer
ican troops at European ports, replac
ing in that respect an express author
ization in the old rules for use of any
cable dispatches passed by the Euro
pean censors.
No Military Information For Public
Other sections of the old regulations
are made more severe by specific stipu
lations in place of the more general
language employed in the rules in
force until now. Information which the
government considers might reveal
military movements or policies is de
scribed in great detail. In the state
ment announcing the new regulations.
Chairman of the Committee George
Creel says that “repeated and seri
ous violations of the voluntary cen
sorship have been attempted to be
excused on the score of misunder
standing,” and that a “restatement”
is made with the idea that hereafter
there shall be no room for doubt as
to the committee’s desires.” The in
stances in which the most serious
charges of violations have been made,
however, have not resulted from any
misunderstanding of the committee’s
rules, but from following them implic
itly. These instances have involved
publication of dispatches passed by the
European censors, announcing the ar
rival of American military units in
Europe.
Women Prefer Death To Capture
Petrograd.—Russia’s women soldiers
have pledged themselves to take their
own lives rather than become German
war prisoners. Each soldier carries a
ration of cyanide of potassium to be
swallowed in event of capture. The
members of the women regiments,
now constantly increasing, agreed that
death was to be preferred to the fate
they would probably meet at the hands
of the Germans. The Legion of Death
fighters are “good killers.”
British Commons Votes Down Peace
London.—The house of commons,
after employing a whole evening ses
sion in discussion of a peace resolu
tion moved by J. R. MacDonald, So
cialist and Labor member, defeated it
by a vote of 148 to 19.
White House Policeman First Selected
Washington.—Harry Chapman Gil
bert, twenty-one-year-old son of a
white house police guard, is the first
man in the country to be accepted for
service in the new national army,
having passed his physical test and
waived all claims for exemption. Gil
bert last summer joined a Canadian
regiment, the Two Hundred and Third
Winnipeg Ritles, and was aboard a
transport ready to sail when his pa
rents intervened and had the state de
partment secure his release on the
ground that he was not of age.
MANY TOWNS ARE
TAKEN INLANDERS
Anglo-Frence Forces In Great Great
Drive Take Thousands Os Prisoners
And Advance On Wide Front
GERMANS AREFORCEOBACK
German Trenches Completely Wreck
ed By Tons Os Shells Allied Guns
Had Been Hurling Three Weeks
New York.—The great assault of
the entente allies, for which the big
guns had been preparing for three
weeks in bombardments of unprece
dented violence, has begun in Flan
ders along a front of about twenty
miles, from the region of Dixmude to
south of Ypres around Warneton.
Starting with the first peep of day
the attack which was carried out joint
ly by French and British troops—the
Frenchmen holding the line north of
Boesinghe and the British between
that town and Warneton —the end of
the day’s fighting found that all the
entente plans had been carried out.
The Frenchmen were holding two
lines of captured German trenches,
and Field Marshal Haig’s men three
lines, in addition to ten or more towns
and villages and more than thirty-five
hundred Germans made prisoners.
Allied Loss Very Small
Notwithstanding the fact that the
Teutons had massed almost countless
numbers of guns and numerous divi
sions of fresh men to hold back the
foreseen onslaught, and, when the bat
tle broke, threw both men and guns
into the fray, the British and French
carried out their operations with dash
and determination: indeed, at some
points, so determined were the attack
ing forces that frequently they passed
the objectives which had been assign
ed for their capture and pressed on
and took terrain that had not been fig
ured on for attainment. The casual
ties of both the British and French
armies were relatively slight consid
ering the intensity of the fighting on
various sectors, while the Germans,
in addition to their men made pris
। oners, suffered heavily in killed or in
wounded.
Deepest Wedge Two Miles
■ Although the Latest reports are to
the effect that the Germans are
launching a heavy counter attack
against the allied line at the point
where the British and French forces
meet, statements from the front say
that the morale of the allies is splen
did, while that of the Germans is far
below normal. A majority of the po
sitions taken by the allies had been
in possession of the Teutons since
they invaded Belgium.
SECOND ARMY CLASS OF
755.700 CALLED IN AUGUST
Selected Men Will Be Used To Fill
Regular Army And Militia And
Replace Those Exempted
Washington.—The second class of
755.700 men registered under the se
lective service law will be called up
for examination early in August. With
examination of the first quota of 1.-
374,000 progressing rapidly the pro
vost marshal general’s office announc
ed that seven days after the first
suota called are examined the second
quota would be posted for examina
tion. The second quota, which will
number 119 per cent of the 687,000
men needed to fill the regular army
and militia and the sew national army
of 500,000 will be combed for men to
replace those exempted in the first
group. General Crowder moved to
strict exemptions further. Medical stu
dents and men serving in Red Cross
ambulance companies have no valid
claims for exemption or discharge is
his latest ruling. Agricultural workers
and munition factory handlers also
will be greatly restricted in exemp
tion claims, it was intimated. Al
though these industries are not spe
cifically exempted, appeals are pour
ing in from the farm district and big
industrial centers for favorable rul
ings. Exemption boards must con
sider claims of farm laborers strictly
on their merits. The city “war gar
dener" will have absolutely no consid
eration as such, and will not be ex
empted as a farm hand.
East St. Louis Impossible In South
Newport News. Va. —In an address
urging loyalty to their employers and
admonishing them to work six days
a week and save their money. R. R.
Moton, principal of Tuskegee insti
tute, told two thousand negro employ
ees of the Newport News Shipbuilding
and Dry Docks company here that
they have an opportunity “which cer
tainly makes them soldiers as well as
those on ships at sea or those in the
trenches in Europe." No people can
be more loyal than the negro, he add
ed, and none will be more loyal.
SI.OO A YE AB
STATE ITEMS
CONDENSED
Rome. —James Brown, the 9-year-old
son of a widowed mother, Mrs. A. W.
Brown, was struck by an automobile#
and received injuries from w'hich he
died a few hours later at a local hos
pital.
Camp Harris, Macon.—Maj. William
H. Beck was elected lieutenant colo
nel of the Second Georgia infantry to *
succeed Lieut. Col. J. M. Kimbrough,
recently transferred to the regular
army.
Bostwick.—Miss Lorena Butler, 14-
year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.
B. Butler, and one of the brightest i
and most attractive young ladies in
this community, has been, killed by
lightning in her home here.
Bainbridge.—Bainbridge has the ex- ;
citement of a political campaign added ;
to the war situation. The campaign is
already actively under way, although
the executive committee has fixed no
date for the primary, which is usually
held in the summer months.
Rome.—Daniel G. McCollum, a
twenty-three-year-old farmer, residing (
at Seney, will not answer to the call |
of No. 13 in the Polk county draft,
for he was killed here by his cousin. I
Marion Scoggins, who is in the Floyd
county jail charged with murder.
Thomasville. —In an altercation be
tween Albert White and W. H.
Hughes as they started upon the re- I
turn trip from Thomasville to their 1
homes near Pelham. Mitchell county, i
White received a pistol wound in the |
chest, causing his death.
Quitman. —Judge W. H. Long, of the
city court, permitted a 13-months-old
baby to decide to whom it belonged. ’ j
Mr. and Mrs. Lonnie Rogers, a young
couple, separated several weeks ago
and the father took the 13-months-old
girl baby. The mother has instituted 1
proceedings to get the baby.
Columbus.—Julian R. Lane, county i
engineer and warden of Muscogee for 1
the past six years, passed away at
his apartment here from rßight’s dis- I
ease. Engineer Lane some weeks ago
was forced to undergo an operation
whereby he lost his right leg above I
the knee and since that time had been 1
an invalid.
Augusta.—Rev. John D. Mauney,
pastor of St. Andrew’s Lutheran 9
church of Hickory, N. C., has been f
tendered the pastorate of St Mat- j;
thew’s Lutheran church of this city, I
and will arrive in September to take
up his wore »here He succeeds Rev J
P. J. Bame. who resigned several . ■
months ago to accept the call at Lex- 19
ington, N. C.
Albany.—Waiter Sills was shot and j
killed by Major Johnson in the lat- I
ter's room in the Brenard hotel. The I
shooting was the aftermath of a fight ■
the two had late in the afternoon in i(
Metropolitan case in which Sills had I
struck Johnson with a chair and broke
a showcase. Johnson broke down the 1
screen door running out. 9-
Rome. —Eighteen members of house I
and senate committees on the Geor- H
gia School for the Deaf made the an
nual inspection of the institution and I|
will urge the adoption of the appropri- B
ation committee’s recommendation of ■ '
an increase of the annual quota front
fifty thousand to sixty thousand do> ■
lars.
Macon. —While official announce B
ment of the result of the elections in Bi
the Georgia brigade must come from K
the office of the adjutant general in Bi
Atlanta, it is known that Maj. Frank- E
lin M. Cochran, of the adjutant gen- K
eral’s department, at present station- K
ed in Atlanta, was elected lieutenant K
colonel of the Fifth regiment, and Wil- E
liam H. Beck of Griffin to the corre- K
spending position in the Second regl- H
ment.
LaGrange.—Never before in the his- Hi
tory of LaGrange have the people K
been so divided as on the proposition H|
to incorporate the mill villages just ■
out of the city limits into a town to H|
be known as Southwest LaGrange.
There is a local movement on foot to HI
incorporate a "Greater LaGrange.” Hl
The present city limits extend only Hl
one mile in a circle. The proposed^®
movement is to extend the limits toßi
the limit of two miles. This will in-H|
elude the present proposed Southwest^B
LaGrange. SB
Macon. —Steps to provide cleanH
amusements for the thirty-five thou-^M
sand soldiers who will be camped at^E
Camp Wheeler within the course oIH
tlie next few weeks were taken at aHI
mass meeting held at the city auditp-^H
rium by authorizing a committee otMg
five to name a general committee of^H
twenty-five to take the matter inH|
charge. T. S. Settle, representing the^E
war department committee on campflE
activities, was present at the meetinJE
and outlined what should be done toIH|
occupy the soldiers during their span^E
moments. He declared Macon canaK
either make the coming of the soldiem^E
a menace or an opportunity and urged BE
upon the city to see that they do nodHj
become a menace. inS