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VOL. V. NO. 46
Leaders of Workingmen, Espe
\ cially in Great Britain, Are Ex
erting a Steadily Increasing
-
Power, Declares Mr. Bertelli,
Seems Certain to Control Govern
ment After Next Election—Up
set of Class Rule Is Drawing
Near in All Nations at War.
=By C. F. BERTELLIL
PARIS, Feb. 16.—Every country at
war in Eurepe is new being governed
largely in accord with many of the
cardinal principles of practical so
cialism. In Russia at present we have
socialism, so-fcalled, but in reality
anarchy—no law, no government, no
responsible © authority, no security
either of persons or property, no safe
ty for anything or anybody.
The peasants, who form 90 per cent
of Russia’s huge population, have not
yet had the land divided. Those who
have seized a share in their particu
lar communes have no fixity of ten
ure.
Russia in State of Chaos.
What is going to happen to the
other national asgots— mines, rail
. ads, plants, canals, waterfalls, etec.,
L.c man can guess The revolution
has bm:ught Russia to a state o 1
chaos.
In France andé England we have
strong governments in control of all
trade, industries and prices of neces
gities. Great Britain has adopted
measures to force farmers to till the
goil, to speed up shipbuilding, to com
mandeer shipyards, to operate rail
roads, to produce standard boats, and
to insure-the employment of canals
\]ong more or less disused. 2
= %.-These aré “war measures,” but
there is a growing feeling that some
of them will surely be continued when
# peace contes.
Opposition is likely to come chiefly
from . the cgqmfortable commercial
classes and short-stghted capitalists.
The first class is composed very
largely of middlemen—agents and
warehbusemen who come between the
producer and the consumer, employ
ing very little labor, but capturing
the bulk of the profits and artificially
raising the price of goods. Their
days are numbered onces British So
clalists get their plans accepted.
The more timid* capitalists fear
confiscatif of capital, 'but most of
the greater and far-sighted of cap
tains of industry see there is an ex
ceptionally good place waiting for
them under the nev;;egime as direc
tive organizers, an are, helping the
new movement along.
Land Owners in Fear.
Old ‘Tories—in “both Unionist and
Liberal parties—who live on rentsl
from landdlleft to them through a
long ling of ancestors have a deep‘
fear of the times ahead. Lord Lans-l
downe's letter, it may be recalled,
provoked a chorus of criticism that
the Marquis was more afraid of the
ritish working man than he was of
) 1e Kaiser. The new Unionists, how
ever, are of a different mold, and a
trade union deputation recently laid
efore Bonar Law, who did not op
ose it, a proposal to make a com
pulsory levy on capital in order to
pay off the war bill at one stroke.
The admission of the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, who is also leader
of the Unionist party, that some such
schemie may be adopted, has greatly
alarmed old-fashioned economists.
As few running factories have
] enough loose capital to pay the pro
posed levy it would be necessary to
}, ortgage the business as a going
Asnoern, With everybody in the coun
try going into the mortgage market
at once only the State would be able
to take them up, Thus the State
would Acquire .an .interest in -every
business in the lan.d
Under the impulse given by Lloyd
Jeorge with old age pensions and
ompulsory insurance, England, was
Iready in pre-war days trending to
ard practical Socialism. The mam
| oth conflict did not so much arrest
fs course as deflect it Attention
i as turned from question of ,;:rifx\'-
nce in accordance ~Wwith Socialism
vinciples tpward directive centrali
‘ tion and stimulation of the na-
Continued on Page 2, Column 5.
*
;' M ISS ALLISON VAN
§ NETTE, Ala®ama Uni
¢ versity (Co-ed, who is deter
i mined to serve her country in
this war as an aviatrix.
P A -
. 3
Y B 3 :
R 3 N :
‘s
S
- --‘_s:__»::s:-;:‘ B \‘? 3 .
AR M ¢ i
& R i
@ e
o o & LN s
@ e o
b T k:
iy Y o
e¢ 4 B
i o o
IR A R SS S
.
‘[ Am Going to“ Fl—
y Says Co-ed
at’sAll,’ Says Co-e
Alabama Girl Has Application Be~
fore Aviation Officers of the
Signal Corps.
UNIVERSITY, ALA. Feb. B.—"“The
place for some .women to do~ their
bit may be at home or in hospitals,
or elsewhere, but my place to help
win this war quickly is in the most
active unit of the United States avia
tion corps,” is the determined state
ment of Miss Allison Van Nette, a
ce-ed at Alabama. ‘‘And I mean to
fird myself there at the earllest pos
sible moment.”
At Alabama Miss Van Nette has
been called “The Strong Little Joan.”
She is a member of the junior class
in the College of Arts and _Scienfes
and lives at Daphne, Ala. She is a
staunch admirer of nerve and
strength, which qualities students de
clare she posseses to a remarkable de
gree for a girl.
Van Nette, .as she is called here,
has long admined aeronautic werk and
a 3 .
recently decided that she would apply
for entrance into that branch of
service. In the university library she
sought and gathered much informa
tion regarding flying, aeroplanes and
the work done by men in this“depart
ment.
“Nothing ebuld please me better
than to do this work, There is no
doubt in my mind that I could do it
efficiently. My one hope now is that
the officers will accept me when I
stand and pass the examinations, and
that they will send meé to a training
camp. Then to those who discount
the value of women in actual fighting
1 will show a thing or two.”
She watched with interest the ef
forts of other women to enter this de
partment. She recently made a trip
to Birmingham where she was exam
ined by two physicians, who pro
nounced her physically sound. Her
application is now with officials of
the aviation section of the signal
corps.
“Women can make just as good and
just as nesvy flyers as men,” Miss
Van Nette said, ‘‘and we are going to
demonstrate that fact. England is
using women where she never knew
she could before the war, and the
United States will do the same thing
before this war is won. If I am not
accepted by our flying department 1
am going to apply to enter the Brit
tish corps—for I am going to fly,
that's all.”
€
Face to Face
with
. . %9
Kalserlsm
Ambassador Gerard's
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plans and spy systems
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. t\JJ\L\\‘VZQ;ZM o m*(‘ THINK
Influence of Amefica Abroad Wnll‘
Be Bigger After the War Than
Now, Declares William Mar
tin, Swiss Diplomatic Student.
May Be International Arbiter.'
Combat of Ideas Born Here.
L
and in Russia Last Year Will
» ‘
Sweep the Globe, He Asserts.i
By WILLIAM MARTIN.
Foremost Swisd Authority on Diplo
matic Matters., ‘
GENEVA, Feb. 16.—When the year
1917 begam Russia was still an em
rire and the United States was still
neutral. This step on the path of
progress will mark By its lasting con
sequences the greatest advance of the
war. Neither the arrest of the Ger
man offensive on the Marne in 1914,
the ecrushing in 1915 'of Russia, and
the wiping out ,of Serbia, nor the
restoration of Po‘land in 1916 can be‘
measured witQ the political‘upheava]
which we have witnessed in 1917.
The entry of the United States,
followed by nearly 01l the new world,
not only in the war but in world pol
itics, has overthrown the terms of
all the problems of Eurape. Without
going so far as toithink with the “Fi
garo” that the seat of civilization will
henceforth be transported across the
seas, it is impossible to blihd oneself
to the fact that the United States has
assumed a detérminant role in Eu
rope from the political @#nd economic
point of view, of which no one dream
ed a year ago.
The United States, which has al
ways asserted it had no interests oth
ér than in America, is today and will
be still more tomorrow the arbiter
of all political and territorial ques
tions. .
Center of Capital.
While before the war capital was
dear in the Umnited States, and barely
sufficed for internal needs, the coun
try is now pouring out.on Europe a
deluge of its products and money.
All economic, customs and financial
problems are thus renewed. P
The American’ declaration of war
was the first symptom of a reciprocal
interpenetration of a new era in the
political world.
The importance and the gravity of
the American interVention exceed by
a great deal the limits of the war. It
affects us gll, neutrals and belliger
ents. For Germany it is a military
and economic menace of which the
extent has not yet been perceived
It probably contains the definite over
throw of the material hegemony to
which the German people had the
right to look forward before 1917 as
a near eventuality. For the Allies
it is salvation in a situation which,
without the United States, would be
well night desperate. But it is not a
salvation ‘entirely without price, and
the following exclamation of inquie
tude is attributed to one of the most
eminent of the Allied generals: “We
must take care that we do not be
come’' the Portugal of America.”
Discounts War Power.
American intervention in 1918 will
continue to develop, slowly but surely,
its economiec, financial, political and
military consequences. But ong must
not céunt this' year on thundering
successes b;' this army, so gdmirably
equipped, organized and instructed,
full of zeal and an u{satiable desire
for glory, but still a novice in the art
of war. Time alone will give it all
that ig lacking and only three hun
dred and sixty-five da#s separate us
from 1919.
1t is necessary io know how to wait.
Patience seems to us the most fun
dameéntal quality of which the Allied
ppopfios will have the need in the
coming year. Only in calm and in
resignation can they today envisage
final success.
The war never stops. As this mo
ment even, if the signs do not deceive
us, the fSermans are preparing a for
midable offensive, and it is marvellous
to observe with what serenity the
French army ond people see ahead of
events. They have the certainty that
whatever_.may be the resources of an
adversary when circumstances serve,
the danger for them is no longer a
military one.
France Must Wait. e
They know that even if the Ger
mans obtain some sguccesses, which
iz possible, they would be only tem-
Continued on Pagse 4, Column 4.
ATLANTA, GA., SUNDAY, EEBRUARY 17. 1918
|
|
\
Lord Rothermere, British Minis
ter of Aeronautics, Gives His
_ Opinion on Power of the Al
lies’ Air Fighting Department.
Asserts That Aviators Alone, by
“Blinding” Foe, Could Not
Make Impossible a Successful
German Offensive in the West.
.
~By FRANK W. GETTY.
LONDON, Feb, 16.—Mastery of the
air, in so far as the expression is
taken to mean the total “blinding”
of the enemy, is not attainable under
any circumstances in the present war.
Loord Rothermere, British Air Minis
ter, says:
I asked L.ord Rothermere if, wi{h
Amnerica’s full co-operation, mastery
of the air could be attained in 1918.
“Mastery of the air is not a suit
able expression to describe any de
gree of air superiority,” said the Air
Minister. ‘““No superiority can be
suf:flcxent to insure the hostile air
craft will not break through, on a
limited offensive. No amolz‘ of su
periority, whether of number or qual
ity of machines or of pilots, can hope
to secure absolute mastery of the
air, nor can even a dominant posi
tion be assured unless the organiza
tion of force and spirit and skilled
pilots keep pace with the provision
of mechanica] appliances.” 3
“Can every possibility of a suc
cessful German offensive on the west
front be definitely removed by the es
tablishment of allied command of the
air?’ 1 asked.
“No,” he replied. “Such a states
ment would not be justified, accord
ing to our present khowledge.
a2t is_hoped that with the co-oper
ation of America our present superi
ority may be maintained and con
siderably increased.”
' Every Resource |s Needed.
This unqualified statement from the
chief of our ally’'s air service should
‘dispose of any undue optimism over
‘the possibilities of aehieving com
plete control of the air, but it does
not in any way minimize the vital im
portance of the Un'ted States bend
ing every effort toward airplane pro
duction and the training of skilled
pilots. ”
Supremacy, not mastery, in the air
is still attainable and still necessary
to insure the success of allied opera
tions in the wesf. ’
~ The question of reprisals is one
which is interesting every one now
ithat the weather is beginning to clear,
and the British Government is pop
ularly supposed to have adopted such
a policy.
“Will the British enforce the pol
icy of air reprisals during 19187?" 1
asked Lord Rothermere.
“The British inrtend to continue
their air offensive against military
ol jectives in Germany,” he replied.
“The name that is applied to these
cperations does not matter.”
This opens the question as to just
what military objectives consist of. 1
as'ced Lord Rothermere if the policy
of bombing open German manufac
turing towns was not now recognized
as a sound military measure.
“The bombing of suitable mi]lta.r)'
objectives in Germany appears to be
a useful measure for the prosecution
of the war,” was the nearest the air
chief would come to giving a direct
answer to this question.
Regarding the question of announc
ing the names and records of a coun
try’s best fighting airmen, 1 asked
[.ord® Rothermere whether he con
sidered it advisable for the (United
States to adopt the KFrench policy of
announcing them or the British pol
icy of concealing them.
French and British Policies.
‘“T'he two policies are not quite ac
curately stated,” he said. “The French
announcements refer to the most suc
cessful fighting pilots. The -best fly
ing men may be employed on more
important operations than fighting.
The Britich system is not to conceal
the names and,records of flying men,
but to publish them after they have
been examined and approved by the
commander-in-chief and the King
“My own opinion is t.‘at the Brit
isk policy is better, both as a matte:
of justice and as tending to keep up
Continued cn Page 2, Column 4,
-
French Air Expert
’
‘ Comes 'to U. S. to
g Plane
~ Demonstrate Flane
| /
| By HENRY G. WALES,
| International News Service Staff
| Correspondent. |
I PARIS, Feb 16.—Adjutant Sou
lier, of the French army, who shot ~
, down seven German aeroplanes in
the shortest space of time of any
aviator, has been selected by the
under-secretary of aviation to go
to the United States to demon
strate the newest and fastest fly
; ing machine in the world—the
Morane monoplane,
Robert Morane, of the Morane-
Saulnier Works, who has created
this development of his ‘‘para
sol” type, originally intended to
send as demonstrator Sublieuten
ant Jean Navarre, who was tied |
with Guynemer, each having
twelve German machines to their
credit, in the spring of 1916, when
he was wounded, and who has
‘ since been declared insane, fol- ‘
lowing his f‘unnlnx down a num
ber of policemen in his automo- ‘
bile last winter.
The French authormeq have ‘
refused to permit Navarre to
leave the country on the ground
that although he is generally re
garded as rational now, he might |
exhibit further tendencies of in
sanity which might be embar
rassing to the authorities in the
United States because of his
grade and decorations in the
French army. Navarre has al
ways been considered by experts
as the aviator possessing the best
technique in the serviee.
Soulier, who is only 20 years
old, went to Flanders in May last
with a crack French escadrille. ™~
He was flying the newest model
two-gun S. P. A. D. and by the
end of June, when he was wound
_ ed, he had destroyed seven enemy
machines. The Morane which
he will demonstrate has been tried
out by Raoul Givas Lufbdrry,
the American “ace,” who is Mgh
ly pleased with its performance.
It has shattered. all speed and
climbing records, but ca}n only
be driven by the most™ skilled
pilots. L
Romantic Gypsy Life
omantic Gypsy L
Keeps Step With Time
'
LOB ANGELES, Feb. i6.—Romance
has. gone all to finders in these mudern
days in the Far West.
Gypsies refuse to travel about in cov
ered wagons, whose billowing tops re
call to #he youthfal mind all the stories
'of kidnapings and Charlie Rosses that
he has ever heard,
Gypsy John now transports himself,
his wife and his offspring innumerable
[in a ‘superior seven’' or an ‘‘elegant
eight’’ or a “tremendous twelve.”
John, steering his course in the direc
tion of the easiest money, arrived at
lSecond street and Broadway here re
cently in a big ¢ arthat would have
been a credil to a Pasadena milionalire.
All the little Johns and Marias leaped
from the tonneau and began a down
town tour of fortune telling, selling
laces and other methods of coaxing the
dimes.
His sales force well started on its
day's work, Gypsy John himself mo
tored back to his camp, near the Los
Angeles River to map out sales cam
paigns in other cities and towns.
Spent Twenty Years
.
Reading One Book
LONDON, Feb. 16.—Reading should
be a joy, not a penance,” said Pett
Ridge at the Mansion house, after dis
tributing prizes and certificates to pu
pils of the City of London College.
l ‘“Above all(’” he added, ‘Jearn to
skip. Skipping is an exercise which
prevents obesity of the mind."”
“In a military hospital,”” he said, “a
man asked me whether I could get him
‘Twenty Thousand I.eagues Unedr the
Sea.’ He said: ‘T began it twenty
vears ago. I borrowed it from another
man. Somebody pinched it from me
when 1 was half way through it, and
I've never had ‘a chance of getting to
the end of it 1 found the book and
took it to him. He said, ‘l'm very glad
to have it. I.began it twenty years
ago——" 1 said, ‘Yes, but you've read
a large number of books since then,
thaven't you?' The man replied, ‘O, no,
i never tried another.’”
1 J
Paint Slacker Mayor's
House With Yellow
OTTUMWA, IOWA, Feh. 16—Because
they refused to aid in the Red Cross
and Liberty Loan compaigns, Mayor
John Glofelty and llsaac Newlands, of
Libertyville, were visited by imfe citi
zens. The home of ‘thé two hen were
covered with Red C'ross banners and
streaked with yellow paint.
The mayor and Newlands summoned
the shdfiff, but he has thus far failed
to find any of the house decorators
'Glrl, 11, Sells Mama's
.
Rings to a Stranger
SEATTLE, WASH., Feb. 16.—Ruby
Rosenstock, 11, wanted to visit relatives
in Ashland, Oreg., 80 she took her moth.
er's two rings, valued at $250, and sold
them to a stranger for $16.50. Today B.
H. Osborne, 37, is in jail an on open
charge after admitting, according to the
police, that he bought the rings.
(Copyright 1913 by the
Georglan Company.)
\
el
Seven Weeks Regulation Have,
Provén That Government Own
ership |s Essential and Inevita
ble—Crisis in Next 4 Months.
Director McAdoo Is Handicapped
by the Failure of Congress to
* Pass the ‘Railroad Bill—Al
lies Saved by Prompt Action,
By JOHN TEMPLE GRAVES,
Editorial Representative of The Sun
day American in Washington.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 16.—Within
‘'seven weeks of taking over the rail
roads into Government contrel Gov
ernment ownership is abou,l to bhe
vindicated with tremendous emphasis
in the judgment of our country and of
the world.
~ Facts and conditions make it plain
ithat Government operation, which
' should ‘be speedily developed Into
Government ownership, has practi
cally saved the republic and the allied
nations.
Experts and business men in and
out of railroads agree that this eco
nomi¢ salvation could not have been
worked out in any other way than un
der Government control.
Crisis in Next Four Months.
Theke are strong statements, but
the facts will bear them out.
It has Jjust been made plain to our
Government that the nexf four months
constitute the real crisis of America
and her allies, of England, France
and to a large extent of Italy.
It is known that but for the food
supplies of America, both England
and France and more particularly
England will be in a state of want
critical to the success .of the allied
cavse. Prime Ministers and food ad
ministrators of all these countries
have again assured Amegrica of their
supreme dependence on the suppiies
expected from this country.
We know that in the eastern half of
this republic the food supply is never
adequate to the demand, and that we
have here not much more at any time
than food enough to last us for a
fortnight.
It is a matter too generally under
stood to be elaborated hers that up to
the present time the disorder and
chaos prevailing in our transportation
system has made it utterly impossible
to transport from the West and from
the centers the food supplies needed
for consumption by the people.
Roads Steadily Improved.
The shortage of coal has compelled
drastic and revolutionary orders,
which have aroused and inflamed the
people, but which have ultimately
saved the situation and rescued mil
lions from suffering by the steady day
[hy day improvement of transportation
under Government operation.
And so with food. Secarcity in all
the lines of food consumption has
been developed out of chaotic rail
'rnad gonditions. Men and women
have suffered in greater or less degree
’hy reasons of inadequate facilities and
systems of bringing food, until system
‘:lnd efficiency grew into order as the
- Government co-ordinated the rail
' roads and brought them into harmo
nious ‘and unselfish co-Bperation
| And now come two statements,
startling in significance and in sug
‘gemi«in K
1. The food “department of the
American Government has the call
from the allied Governments for food
flu meéet the crisis which is upon these
' Governments and is now extreme, and
;’ 2. The food department is in a posi
;n-m to reply that the food is at hand
I;md the f:u‘flnin.u established for its
' speedy transportation across the sea
1 through the ownership of Govern
'ment operated railroads,
; 89,000 Cars Sent West.
| listen! Within the fortnight 89,000
)frflgm cars have gone rolling west
ward under Government control and
direction to the grainaries of the
West, where food is piled high wait
ing for loading and shipment to these
vital centerg in the East and beyond
the seas.
Within the next fortnight these 89 -
000 cars in huge trainsg will come roll.
ing eastwavrd laden with food supplies
. ?
;Horror of Telling
3
!
. Ages Is Cause of
? ‘ !
| a ‘Nature Freak’
3 By International News Service,)
NORMAN, OKLA., Feb. 16.—
There are two sisters, one of them
is but five months younger than
the other, according to the records
of the Registrar of the Oklahoma™
Unjverkity here,
! Both girls pave the date of their :
birth on their enrollment cards, '
?nnd the records show one was
! born five months after the other, |
{ after having been checked up in |
; the family Bible. :'
4 The girls point out they are not ¢
much worse off than their fair ¢
sisters at the Kansas University. |
Girls there are known to |r.ve en- ‘
tered the university at 18 and |
graduated four years later at the g
age of 20.
A A AAA A AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA N
‘
that relieve conditions of scarcity in
our own country and that are ample
to save England and France in thelt’
hour of need.
Bxpressed In a sentence, then, Gov
ernment operation of railroads speed
ily made efficient under able direc
tion Is going to save the country and
save the Allies and win the war.
And nothing less than Government
operation could have wrought this
miracle and worked out this salva
tion, h
Members of C'ongress are beginning
to see that such a vindication of Gov
ernment operation calls louder than
‘any words and stronger than any
argument for the permanency of Gov
‘ernment operation by Government
‘control.
" Roads Admitted Defeat.
~ There is no use in saying the rail
‘roads under private ownership if
‘given time would establish such co
operation that privately owned and
competing systems would do the .na.mei
}work that the Government owners
have done. ‘
) Railroads themselves are the wit
nesses that establish their own in
capacity during this war. The rail
roads practically threw up their hands
to the Government and confessed that
they were at the end of their rope
and that they could go no farther
under private control. They practi
cally solicited the Government to take
them over because they honestly re
alized that they could not handle the
Government's great business in this
rushing period of war.
And now within a few weeks of
Government operation It is seen here
the central authority and consolida
tion and the removal of jealous and
costly competition have brought the
tangled mass of American railroads
into a sane and efficient system of
transportation. / '
Director General McAdoo declares
without hesitation that the delay in
passing the administration’s railway
bill without limitation as to length of
control is thwarting and handicap
ping him in a thousand ways to the
great detiiment of the country and
to <ur immense disadvantage in win
ning the war.
The dirsctor General declares also
this delay and this limitation of con
trol is seriously embarrassing the
credit of the country. It is difficult,
if not impossible, for the director
general to carry out the policies ab
solutely necessary to efficiency in the
x;ailroads with this delay and uncer
tainty wrapped around the properties
by the postponement of (}overnmeq&
action, ‘
Ownership Inevitable.
It is notable also that the direector
I generai, with his hands on the throttle
and his eye on the rail holding the
transportation system in a broader
and more comprehensive view than
any man has ever had the opportunity
to consgider it, is clearly, strongly and
emphatically of the opinion that Gov
ernment ownership is the sound,
statesman-like policy for our Govern
ment, )
“Absolute control is indispensable
if there is to be abselute responsi
bility,” is the langnuage of Mr. Mc-
Adno. This attitude carries his pro
test agiinst committing the fixing of
rates to the Interstate (‘ommerne;
| Commission, “It is certain,” said Mr.
I.\hg\m.n, “to result in conflict and |
l(-nmy-llmtions and embarrass the Gov- 1
ernment co-operation.”
One of the great railroad experts in
the director general’'s council, said
today: .
“GGovernment ownership of rail
roads has been inevitable for the last
ten vears. The war has simply pre
cipitated it.” ‘
Plans Busy Last 1
. . \
Minutes in Trench
‘ e |
CAMP FUNSTON, KANS., Feb. 16.—
A big negro of the 349th supply train
of the Ninetv-second (negro) Division,
stationed nere, was told that fourteen
minutes is the average time of a man
in the trenches, handling a machine
gun.
“Ahm goin' to pray de fust twa,'' he
gaid, “put dem Germans outen de way
de mext fo’, spen’ fo' mo' in gettin’ de
Kaiser and den spend the last fo’ i::‘
getting the goat of de Crown Prince.”
EXTRA
Magic of His Name Still Sways
the German Masses, but Lu
dendorff Has Become Strong
'
Enough To Be Real Dictator.
Bertelli Believes Germans\iill
Stake All on Great Thrust in
Blood-Soaked French Sector,
Hertling Controlled by Junkers.
By C. F. BERTELLI
PARIS, Feb. 16.—Hindenburg has
lost his power. The magic nf\ his
name still sways the German masses,
but the control of affairs has passed
away from him. Ludendorff, who was
at first content to disguise his hand
under the cloak 6f Hindenburg, has
now become strong enough to declare
himself the regal dictator, and he has
found a ready tool in the Crown
Prince.
Such is the new situation in Ger
many as revealed by a careful colla
tion of the bhest authoritative opinion.
Information indicating these changes
were at hand has been drifting
through for some time, but only this
week has it been possible to get the
facts from a sur:,'source, Evidence
in my possession*now is overwhelm
ing in its detall, ’
Ludendorff and the Crown Prince
together, now feel themselves so
firmly planted they are dictating not
only the military policy but also have
the final voice in the government of
Germany itself. Hindenburg remains
content with the reflected glory of
his battle triumphs.
Hertling a Juggler.
Chancellor Hertling fills the role of
political juggler. Under the thumh of
Militarists, ne has the Adifficult task
of deluding the people to helieve the
annexationists really are pacific, good
fellows, whose only drawback is they
know no other languag®ghan that
of the conqueror.
Ludendorff’s new power 'has come
through the hbreakdown of Russia.
Before that collapse the Great Gen
eral Staff was looking forward with
dread’ to the coming of America on
the western fields in force. They
knew it was beyond the strength of
Germany to rise triumphant over
this new foe, so plentifully equipped
with every resource. But the armis
tice on the eastern front so bolstered
up Germany's confldence the miiitary
party is pnow stronger than ever it
was. The General Staff again has a
free hand for its plans. \
But, strangely enough, with its
new lease of power, there is in the
Empire a tremendous increase in the
hate of the people for its military
i rulers. So bitter is this feeling there
are vast associations of young men,
from 18 to 23, who have sworn never
to wear military decorations. Those
who know Germany will realize the
immense significance of this.
Ludendorff's Final Throw.
Ludendorff knows his strength and
his weakness. He knows it is the
final trial, and in this last gerat
throw hé must play to win or lose all.
He has told the Bundesrat (the up
per House) he has three c¢hances out
of four of wvanquishing Germany's
enemies hefore Amebnica is ready.
That is good enough for the junkers,
whose personal sacrifice on the bat
tlefield is notoriously small.
! My informant believes the place
already has been chosen where the
Germans will strike the next blow.
It will come “with a start to most
people that it is Verdun. One would
have thought the very name of Ver
dun was cursed by the Germans; its
valley roads paved with thousands
of tkien' corpses. But the Germans
are noMing if not nfethodical.
When they chose Verdun before
they did so because they knew that,
once through there, they could roll
up the whole French and British line,
The same strategy guides them to
|dfl_\g And with this difference—no
German believes they were defeated
ib\, the French. Mud, they say, was
xf\r- only thing that stopped them
from getting through. Having
bl FRE esson ey will not
L(t(vl»;p?'f')ugl:;}:r‘-: llx;;!!;rilxlf!h days of mud
are over for the year and they are
Continued en Pags 4,Column®, .