Killed 104
Seriously injured 154
Slightly injured 269
----
527
including 120 children killed or injured.
To-day our airmen dropped bombs on the Fort of London.
_British Official, June 13, 1917._
[Illustration]
_William to Japan: "I will never again make drawings about 'The Yellow
Peril' if you will help me against 'The American Peril.'"_
* * * * *
On February first we intend to begin submarine warfare without
restriction. In spite of this it is our intention to endeavor to keep
the United States neutral. If this attempt is not successful, we propose
an alliance on the following basis with Mexico:
That we shall make war together and together make peace; we shall give
general financial support, and it is understood that Mexico is to
reconquer her lost territory of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona. The
details are left to you for settlement.
You are instructed to inform the President of Mexico of the above in the
greatest confidence as soon as it is certain that there will be an
outbreak of war with the United States, and suggest that the President
of Mexico shall on his own initiative communicate with Japan suggesting
the latter's adherence at once to this plan, and at the same time offer
to mediate between Germany and Japan.
Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico that the
employment of ruthless submarine warfare now promises to compel England
to make peace in a few months.
ZIMMERMANN'S _Letter to Mexico,
Written January 19,
Published March 1, 1917._
[Illustration]
_THE PRESIDENT'S HANDICAP_
_President Wilson, who wishes to take measures to safeguard his
country's interests and honor against Hun piracy and intrigue, finds his
hands tied and his appeals flouted by German Americans, pacifists, and
professors of "friendly diplomacy."_
* * * * *
Sharp opposition arose yesterday to the requisite resolution in the
Senate under the leadership of Senators La Follette and Stone and a few
cranky Western radicals. Senator La Follette, who, besides being of
pacifist tendencies, represents Wisconsin, where the German vote is
strong, had all along been expected to take advantage of the privilege
of unlimited debate in order to try to kill the resolution.
_Times Correspondent
Washington, March 4, 1917._
[Illustration]
_Germany: "We have turned the richest lands of France into a gigantic
region of Death."_
_Christ: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these ye
have done it unto me."_
* * * * *
Our retreat from the old positions on the Ancre and the Somme has
nullified the projected great Anglo-French spring offensive against our
center on the Western front.
Long strips of territory, having a width of from ten to twelve
kilometers (from six and one-fourth to seven and one-half miles), and
running along the whole of our position, have been turned into "dead
ground." No villages or farm remains standing on this glacis, no road is
passable, and no bridge, railway-line, or embankment remains standing.
Before our new positions runs, like a gigantic ribbon, the empire.
_Lokalanzeiger, March 18, 1917._
[Illustration]
_Attila: "You have burned and plundered the villages and poisoned the
wells. What a hero you are, William!"_
* * * * *
The commandant of outposts will direct the destruction of the various
localities. The final and complete destruction of Grevillers,
Biefvillers, Aubin, and Avesnes will begin at the hour of X-2. To
provide the detachments for setting fire to houses each commandant in
the sector will furnish two sub-officers and twenty men from the B
battalions, and two stretcher-bearers with litters. The destruction of
Favreuil, Beugnatre, and Fremicourt will begin on the second day of the
retirement at the hour of X-3. The destruction of Morchies will be
executed in the morning of the third day of the retirement, at about
five o'clock.... The destruction of Louverval, Boursies, Demicourt will
begin on the third day of the retirement. For these operations the
commandant of pioneers will arrange with the commandant of outposts of
Division S, Sector III., Major von Uechtritz, at Doignies, in such
manner that all the details of destruction not carried out under orders
of the commandant of outposts shall be executed later by Division S.
The lighting of the incendiary fires shall be executed under command of
the officers by the different detachments. The destruction of all wells
is important.
TIEDE (F. D. R.)
BAESSLER, OBERLEUTNANT.
_German Official._
[Illustration]
_FOR HOLY RUSSIA AND HUMANITY!_
_Russian patriotism tramples on the traitorous pro-German dragon whose
breath has paralyzed Russia in the field and at home. The kaiser sees
and slinks away._
* * * * *
Before retiring into the background the Executive Committee of the Duma,
under M. Rodzianko, issued on March 20 the following noteworthy appeal
to the nation:
A great event has happened. By one mighty effort the Russian people have
overthrown the old order of things. A new free Russia has been born. In
the course of nine long years all the rights won by the people were
taken away from it one by one. The country was once again thrown into
the abyss of arbitrariness and autocracy. All attempts to bring the
Government to reason proved fruitless, and the great world-war into
which our country was drawn by the enemy found it in a state of moral
disorganisation, with a Government separated from the people,
indifferent to the fate of the country, and sunk in the disgrace of
vices of every kind....
The people were obliged to take over the power in the State into their
own hands. The unanimous revolutionary impulse of the people, animated
by the sense of the importance of the hour, and the resoluteness of the
Duma, have created a Provisional Government which deems it to be its
sacred and responsible duty to realise the people's aspirations and to
lead the country on to the bright road of free civic organisation.
M. RODZIANKO,
_The Duma, March 20, 1917._
[Illustration]
_THE TWO GIANTS_
_Germany: "I destroy!" America: "I create!"_
* * * * *
Among the many steps which are being taken by the Government to meet the
emergency created by the submarine menace is the graduating of the first
and second classes in the Naval Academy. The first class will be
graduated on March 29, and the second class several weeks later. This
measure will provide 374 additional naval officers.
_Reuter, Washington, March 20, 1917._
[Illustration]
_William to General von Fleck: "We must save these beautiful things from
destruction and fire."_
* * * * *
All the reports which have reached us confirm the report that the enemy
has systematically pillaged and ravaged the evacuated zone, mostly
without reasons of a military nature. General von Fleck, the Commander
of the 17th German Army Corps, in leaving Ham carried away the furniture
of the house which he occupied in the town.
_French Official, March 22, 1917._
[Illustration]
_Uncle Sam: "So we are only a dollar making people, are we?"_
* * * * *
Germany never had the slightest intention of attacking the United States
of America, and does not intend to do so now. Germany never desired war
against the United States of America, and she does not desire it to-day.
How did things develop? We told the United States more than once that we
announced the unrestricted use of the submarine weapon in the
expectation that England could be made to observe in her blockade policy
the laws of humanity and international agreements.
If the American nation regards this as a reason for declaring war
against the German nation, with which it has lived in peace for more
than a hundred years; if by this action it wants to increase bloodshed,
not we shall have to bear the burden of responsibility for it. The
German nation, which feels neither hatred nor hostility towards the
United States of America, will also bear this and overcome it.
HERR VON BETHMANN-HOLLWEG,
_Berlin, March 29, 1917._
[Illustration]
_In the Office of a German Newspaper in America_
_"My tear vellow, as long as you not forget to wave now and again a
leedle American flag, you can safely go on committing high treason in
the interest of our Vaterland."_
* * * * *
Aid and comfort to our German enemy assume a peculiarly insidious and
subtle form, as we are warned by leading papers in various parts of the
country, in the attempts of certain journals to confuse the minds of the
American people about our motives in entering the war, and to implant
seeds of suspicion and distrust concerning our Allies.
_Literary Digest, April, 1917._
[Illustration]
_BECAUSE IT IS THY WAR, IT IS MY WAR_
* * * * *
God of the Ages, our father's God, and our God, whose holy influence has
shaped and guided the destiny of our Republic from its inception, we
wait upon that influence to guide us in the present crisis which has
been thrust upon us.
Diplomacy has failed; moral suasion has failed; every appeal to reason
and justice has been swept aside. We abhor war and love peace. But if
war has been, or shall be, forced upon us, we pray that the heart of
every American citizen shall throb with patriotic zeal; that a united
people may rally around our President to hold up his hands in every
measure that shall be deemed necessary to protect American lives and
safeguard our inherent rights.
Let thy blessings, we beseech Thee, attend the Congress now convened in
extraordinary session under extraordinary conditions which call for
extraordinary thought, wise counsel, calm and deliberate legislation;
that its resolves and all its enactments may spring spontaneously from
loyal and patriotic hearts; that our defenders on land and sea may be
amply supplied with the things which make for strength and efficiency.
And, O God, our Heavenly Father, let Thy strong arm uphold, sustain, and
guide us in a just and righteous cause; for Thine is the kingdom, the
power, and glory, forever. Amen.
REV. DR. HENRY M. COUDEN,
_In Congress, U. S. A.,
April 2, 1917._
[Illustration]
_"THE STARS AND STRIPES IN THE SERVICE OF HUMANITY"_
* * * * *
We are now about to accept gage of battle with this natural foe to
liberty, and shall, if necessary, spend the whole force of the nation to
check and nullify its pretensions and its power. We are glad, now that
we see the facts with no veil of false pretense about them, to fight
thus for the ultimate peace of the peoples included: for the rights of
nations great and small and the privilege of men everywhere to choose
their way of life and of obedience. The world must be made safe for
democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of
political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no
conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities of ourselves, no material
compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of
the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those
rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations
can make them.
PRESIDENT WILSON'S
_Address to Congress,
April 2, 1917._
[Illustration]
_PROUD TO FIGHT_
* * * * *
There are, it may be, many months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of
us. It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war,
into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself
seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace,
and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest
our hearts--for democracy, for the right of those who submit to
authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and
liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a
concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations
and make the world itself at last free. To such a task we can dedicate
our lives and our fortunes, everything that we are and everything that
we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when
America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the
principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has
treasured. God helping her, she can do no other.
PRESIDENT WILSON'S
_Address to Congress,
April 2, 1917._
[Illustration]
_"ACCORDING TO PLAN"_
_Hindenburg: "We lost Vimy Ridge, about 12,000 prisoners, 125 guns, 70
mortars, 175 machine-guns, all according to pl...."_
_William: "Shut up!"_
* * * * *
Hard fighting took place again this afternoon on the northern end of
Vimy Ridge, in which we gained further important positions and took a
number of prisoners and machine-guns.
In the direction of Cambrai we have advanced our line north of the
village of Louverval.
Such counter-attacks as the enemy has attempted at different points
along our front have met with no success.
The number of prisoners taken by us since the opening of our attack
yesterday morning now exceeds 11,000, including 235 officers.
We have also captured over 100 guns, among them a number of heavy guns
up to 8-inch calibre, 60 trench mortars, and 163 machine-guns.
_British Official, April 10, 1917._
[Illustration]
_WELCOME TO STOCKHOLM!_
_The German Delegates: "Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras ...."_
* * * * *
According to the statements of an Austrian officer, a deserter, the
German chancellor has sent a number of German Socialists to Stockholm to
interview the representatives of Russian Socialists and negotiate for a
separate peace.
Another Austrian deserter alleges that peace is being spoken of less
frequently than formerly in the Austrian Army, and that everybody hopes
the internal disorders in Russia will help in bringing about her
destruction.
_Russian Official,
Petrograd, April 14, 1917._
[Illustration]
_Austria: "Why won't you trust me, Little Red Riding Hood?"_
* * * * *
As it was herewith clearly demonstrated to the entire world, and
especially to the people of Russia, that Russia was no longer forced to
fight for her defences and for the freedom of her people, it should, in
view of the conformity of the aims of the governments of the allies and
of the Russian Provisional Government, not be difficult to find a way
toward an understanding. This the less as the emperor (Charles) in
agreement with the allied monarchs cherishes the hope of living in
future in peace and friendship with a Russian people which, as regards
its internal and external conditions of life, will be secured and
content.
_Austrian Government to Russia,
April 15, 1917._
[Illustration]
_KULTUR V. CIVILISATION_
* * * * *
On the evening of April 17 the S.S. _Donegal_ and _Lanfranc_, while
transporting wounded to British ports, were torpedoed without warning.
The _Lanfranc_, in addition to 234 wounded British officers and men,
carried 167 wounded German prisoners, a medical personnel of 52, and a
crew of 123.
_British Admiralty Official,
April 17, 1917._
[Illustration]
_American Soldier: "Remember we have plenty of lamp-posts for
traitors."_
* * * * *
It's about time for the hamstringers that are lurking in the tall grass
and the sabotagists who are trying to throw monkey-wrenches into the war
machinery to shut off and up or look for unpleasant consequences.
These hidden-hangers do not come out in the open, even to the extent of
the semi-treasonable sentiments of the Pro-German Socialists at St.
Louis. If they did, it wouldn't be necessary to pay any attention to
them. They work in a more insidious way. Under the guise of American
citizenship they rise up every now and then, individuals or
organizations of doubtful origin and purpose, to demand why the United
States is in the war and what its intentions are....
Americans are in no mood to tolerate national sabotage of this sort any
more than plain and open aid and comfort to the enemy. Every man of
common sense knows why we are in the war and what we want to do. We are
in it because we were forced into it by outrageous aggressions and
because we are determined to make the world safe for American democracy.
_Chicago Herald, May, 1917._
[Illustration]
_THE SOCIALIST BAIT FOR RUSSIA_
* * * * *
At the last sitting of the executive committee of the Council of
Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates, M. Borgbjerg, on behalf of the Labour
parties of Scandinavia--Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian--conveyed an
official invitation to all Socialist parties in Russia to the proposed
international conference at Stockholm.
_Reuter, Petrograd, May 8, 1917._
[Illustration]
_ON LAND AND WATER_
_The End of the Hindenburg Line?_
* * * * *
The Washington correspondent of the Associated Press states that
Congress will be asked to appropriate $1,000,000,000 (L200,000,000) for
the building of an American merchant fleet to overcome the submarine
menace.
* * * * *
The program of the Shipping Board contemplates the diversion to the
Government of the product of every steel-mill in the United States and
the cancelation of existing contracts between the mills and private
consumers, and, where necessary, the payment of damages by the
Government to the parties whose contracts are canceled. The Board
estimates that from five to six million tons of steel and wooden vessels
will be constructed by the Government in the next two years.
_Associated Press,
Washington, May 8, 1917._
[Illustration]
_"A POISON-GAS ATTACK ON NEW RUSSIA"_
* * * * *
Isolated groups of certain classes of the population, lacking
conscientiousness, seek to realize their aspirations by the medium of
violence, and threaten to destroy the discipline of internal policy and
to create anarchy.
The Provisional Government believes it to be its duty to declare frankly
that this state of things, which renders the administration of the
country difficult, may lead the country to internal disorganisation and
defeat at the front. The phantom of anarchy and civil war threatening
liberty arises before Russia.
_Russian Provisional
Government Proclamation,
Petrograd, May 9, 1917._
[Illustration]
_A FOOL'S PARADISE_
* * * * *
As affairs are going now, it will be impossible to save the country.
Perhaps the time is near when we will have to tell you that we can no
longer give you the amount of bread you expect or other supplies on
which you have a right to count. The process of the change from slavery
to freedom is not going on properly. We have tasted freedom and are
slightly intoxicated. What we need is sobriety and discipline.
You could suffer and be silent for ten years, and obey the orders of a
hated Government. You could even fire upon your own people when
commanded to do so. Can you now suffer no longer?
We hear it said that we no longer need the front because they are
fraternizing there. But are they fraternizing on all the fronts? Are
they fraternizing on the French front? No, comrades, if you are going to
fraternize, then fraternize everywhere. Are not enemy forces being
thrown over upon the Anglo-French front, and is not the Anglo-French
advance already stopped? There is no such thing as a "Russian front,"
there is only one general Allied front.
KERENSKY, _Russian Minister of Justice,
May 14, 1917._
[Illustration]
_THE UNITED STATES FOR CONSCRIPTION_
_William: "Do you mean to say that you are really going to do
something?"_
* * * * *
The day here named is the time upon which all shall present themselves
for assignment to their tasks. It is for that reason destined to be
remembered as one of the most conspicuous moments in our history. It is
nothing less than the day upon which the manhood of the country shall
step forward in one solid rank in defense of the ideals to which this
nation is consecrated. It is important to those ideals no less than to
the pride of this generation in manifesting its devotion to them, that
there be no gaps in the ranks.
_From_ PRESIDENT WILSON'S _Proclamation
of the Draft Law, May 18, 1917._
[Illustration]
_John Bull: "A hearty welcome! Come in, Mate."_
* * * * *
Sir Edward Carson was the chief speaker at a luncheon given at Princes
Restaurant on the 17th inst., by the Navy League to the chairman and
committee of the Navy League of the United States. The gathering was
representative of the British Parliament and Navy, and several American
Naval officers were among the guests.
The Duke of Buccleuch, who presided, gave the toasts of "The King" and
"The President of the United States."
Mr. Irwin Laughlin (Councillor to the United States Embassy), in
responding, expressed regret that the Ambassador was unable to be
present. He would like to say, in thanking his Grace for the very
flattering and agreeable words he had been good enough to utter in
regard to the President, and the alliance, that he was sure both the
President and the Ambassador felt that the binding force of any alliance
sprang not from a matter of treaties, but from a reciprocal confidence
in mutual aims.
_British Admiralty, Official,
May 22, 1917._
[Illustration]
_Tommy: "Look here, Bill, here's a bit of old Hindenburg's line."_
* * * * *
Sir Douglas Haig, who has never yet made a premature claim of success,
has been able to announce that ten miles of the vaunted Hindenburg line
have passed into the possession of his gallant troops. The Germans say
that "there is no Hindenburg line," and in one respect at least they are
correct. Our Special Correspondent, in a despatch published in this
issue, declares that the Hindenburg line is "now undiscoverable." The
attacking forces gained possession of a very long stretch of pulverized
ground, but the line itself had been battered out of recognition.
_The Times, May 25, 1917._
[Illustration]
_A GOOD START_
* * * * *
A brief _resume_ of what the United States have accomplished during the
seven weeks which have elapsed since they entered the war may not be
without interest as demonstrating America's complete participation in
the war and her ability to give immediate and powerful aid.
A selective Draft Bill which will ultimately give an Army of 2,000,000
men has passed Congress, and will be put into operation forthwith. The
loan legislation has passed Congress, and the law is already in
operation with prospects of the greatest success; $750,000,000 has
already been advanced to the Allies.
_British Press Bureau,
May 27, 1917._
[Illustration]
_THE DECISION OF THE SEAMEN'S AND FIREMEN'S UNION_
_"Don't think, my beauty, that we are going to ship you to those German
friends of yours at Stockholm."_
* * * * *
The following telegram, signed by Mr. Havelock Wilson as President of
the Sailors' and Firemen's Union, has been sent to the Council of
Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates in Petrograd:
Comrades, I am instructed by the Committee of the National
Sailors' and Firemen's Union of Great Britain and Ireland,
representing 100,000 organized seamen, to inform you that we
have decided not to work on any ship which conveys delegates to
Petrograd or Stockholm until such delegates give an undertaking
in writing that no war settlement can be made with Germany
until the German Government make restitution to the relatives
of Allied and neutral seamen who have been murdered when
endeavouring to escape from their sinking ships that were
torpedoed by German submarines. We desire that you will make
inquiries as to the noble part played by the British Seamen's
Union towards the Russian revolutionary party in 1905 and 1906,
when, you will find, we were the true friends of Russian
democracy.
_June, 1917._
[Illustration]
_GERMANY'S PEACE AGENTS CAUGHT IN THEIR OWN TRAP_
* * * * *