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Show I jffNfi Goocfwins IVqqJcIz I XSu F the Kaiser will take the trouble to jaPPfiM casually survey the events of the YfiHB passing week he ought to be able to r JIF detect developments of portentous Bil WBSr significance. His spokesman's feeler MfKU fr peace, that of Baron Burian, the Austria-Hungarian foreign minister, found its answer when 13,000,000 red-blooded Americans registered L) their willingness to serve their country in any capacity. Surely he must see by now that in the contest of the survival of the fittest, into which he has forced the Great Republic to enter against its every wish, he hasn't a ghost of a show to win. For can he not already see the black storm clouds rising in the West that will soon beat down upon him and his kind with all the pent-up fury that this mighty nation ' can muster? He mocked America once; he will yet plead for mercy at her hands. " And therein lies the danger just ahead. All their vainglorious boastings aside, the Prussian war lords do not relish the idea of being forced into a show-down fight with America. They made frantic and, in many respects, foolish efforts to settle the awful issue before we were able to marshal substantial military strength against them. But they found themselves baffled at every turn. America was there insufficient force to help stop them in their tracks. The Huns have turned tail and are now on the run. What is going to happen, say, next summer, when our armed forces number 5,000,000, simply challenges chal-lenges the imagination. "We are just beginning to fight," says Secretary Sec-retary Baker, and he is right. When we finally get up steam and all our magnificent armies are in full swing, the chances are that there will be nothing but a grease spot left of the Kaiser and his crowd, provided they have the nerve to stand up like men and fight it out to a finish. But Avill they? Or will they soon make a plea for peace on such terms as is likely to make a strong appeal to our war-worn allies? This must be our chief lookout. Not that our gallant comrades are weakening in the faith, but it is conceivable that Germany could easily make overtures that would tempt them to listen to the siren song of a premature peace. It is our plain mission to see that such subterfuge does not succeed. We are rapidly getting into shape to do the big end of the fighting; we have already made preparations to substantially feed our allies ; and in addition, we must steel ourselves to the necessity neces-sity of cheering our glorious comrades on until the military might of the enemy is broken and his spirit crushed. That can be the only satisfactory settlement of the issue ; that is the primary object of calling 13,000,000 Americans to stand ready to join the colors ; and now that the start has been made, it is for us alone to see that peace is established by the sword, an,djiot by petition on the part of a craven enemy. A peace obtained on any other terms short of military supremacy and unconditional surrender, would simply sim-ply mean another war in the near future. Now that we have the upper up-per hand, it would be a crime against civilization if we fail to keep it. IS HINDENBURG WHISTLING? I'X is said that during the early months of the war someone asked Hindenburg what he was in the habit of doing when things went "wrong. "I always whistle," replied the old marshal. The story was given wide circulation throughout the empire, and when their armies did not appear to be meeting with the success hoped for, it became the custom of the German people to inquire whether Hindenburg was whistling. Upon being assured to the contrary, they went their way feeling that everything was going well at the front. fl Well, if there is any truth to the story, then old Hindenburg must have been whistling steadily for the past two months ; and right now he ought to be whistling loud enough for the German people to hear M with their own cars, He has been experiencing a tough time of it M this summer, and it is beginning to look as though his troubles have just fairly commenced. We are told, of course, how he counseled M strenuously against the inglorious drive of the Crown Prince which M struck an American snag at Chateau Thierry, so that in this one in- H stance he could perhaps look the Kaiser and his young hopeful straight M in the eye and say "I told you what would happen." And the chances are that the grim old soldier said something to this effect, for the ' M Prussian war lords are given to plain speech among themselves. But M whether Hindenburg had the nerve to tell the people just who was fl responsible for the ill-fated offensive, is open to speculation. ' Our fl belief is that he simply went off by himself and began whistling, and was content to let the people draw their own conclusions. H Which reminds us that Frederick the Great was also in the habit of seeking solace in the strains of his own music when things were fl not right with him. It was his habit to shut himself for hours at a H Stretch and play incessantly upon his flute, and at such times the pco- H pie always knew that something was wrong. We have yet to learn H what the Kaiser does when he finds himself in a bad fix. It would be H interesting to know. M H JIMHAM A HERO. WHEN President Wilson's Handy Andy, Senator J. Ham Lewis, M suddenly popped up one day in Paris, at a time when by all H calculations he should have been out in Illinois mending his political M fences, it was clear to all that he was simply seeking to popularize M himself with his constituents by an unprecedented program of long- H distance campaigning. And, posing as the President's emissary on a H particular mission, he managed to keep himself in the spotlight for a H few days. Then he suddenly faded froni'viewv H Which was not at all surprising. "What with a million and a half H Americans at the front and the big end of them in action, and with H the British doing some of the fanciest fighting of the war, it was not H to be supposed that the picturesque, pink-whiskered statesman who H had gone to Europe to strut around a bit and advertise himself in un- H seemly fashion, could continue to monopolize the cable service across H the Atlantic. So one fancies that the latter part of his sojourn abroad H was not altogether to his liking, and. for want of front page notoriety' H his vanity was pricked. H Then the unexpected happened. The American transport Mount H rVernon, while homeward bound was torpedoed some two hundred H miles off the coast of France. And it was Jimham's luck to be aboard H the troopship. The boat was badly damaged but was able to make a H safe port under its own steam. A number of lives were lost, and when H the full story is told it is bound to prove a thrilling narrative. Mean- H while the dispatches have been most meagre, and strange to say, the" H presence of the Illinois senator on the ship and the fact that he con- H tracted a slight cold while looking after the wounded, have called for H more comment in the cablegrams than all the other casualties com- H ' bined. H ' From what we have read, it was fortunate that Jimham was present when the boat was struck. For who else would have looked H after the injured? It stands to reason that the crew and other able- 9 bodied passengers had all they could do to look after themselves. So H Jimham saved the day. In addition to his other accomplishments, he is now a hero. Will his lucky star never desert him? H THE SOLDIER VOTE. H qTS the Administration afraid of the soldier vote this year? If not, H JL then why docs the War Department .make it next to impossible to H I 'extend the election Machinery for the use of the men in uniform ? H -For instance : General Orders No. 63 reads in part : "It will not H: b'e possible to take the vote of any soldier who is actively engaged in B military operations, unless such soldier be able to cast his vote by H transmitting an executed ballot through the mails as ordinary Cortes' Corte-s' spondence." Then the order continues to the effect that the War De-H De-H I partment cannot undertake to even forward blank ballots to the sol-H sol-H diers when addressed in care of the Department. The only assistance H available is the offer to furnish to each state upon request with the H organization address of its qualified electors in the service. H Which implies that the War Department contemplates, doing H ' nothing to materially facilitate the canvass of the soldier vote. It H will be pleased to furnish each voter's address, of course, but are the H ' army authorities not already bound to forward all legitimate mail and H, messages to the men at the front, wherever they may be? But the H I rub comes in the decisi" 1 regard an executed ballot as ordinary H ! mail correspondence. T' .ncans that every soldier's ballot will be H ' censored, a proceeding abs. utely contrary to the theory and practice H of the American franchise. Surely the soldier is as much entitled to H exercise his right to cast a secret ballot as the civilians at home. He H did not forfeit this right when he joined the colors. Also, he is en-H en-H , titled to the assurance that when he has cast his vote, there can be no H f possible tampering with his individual ballot. i It would seem that the War Department, if it were so disposed, could evolve some practical plan for taking and transmitting the vote of all eligible electors in the army to their proper destination. It is HLf due the soldiers that the right to vote shall follow .them wherever H ' they follow the flag. M h I MERE SPECULATION. H Is I A Mame Soes so &oes tne nation," has been a fairly safe political H . Jlx. speculation for the past half century. No wonder, then, that H the Republicans are optimistic over the outlook. The elections are H over in Maine and the G. O. P. have made a clean sweep of everything H in sight. Which would seem to augur for a Republican year. H But it is to be noted that the Democrats made serious inroads into H the normal Republican majority, cutting it down in several instances H , to a margin altogether too close to be comfortable. If the same per- H centage of gain is registered throughout the country, the party in H' power is sure to carry most of the doubtful states and thereby retain H ' the control of Congress. This, at least, is the view taken by the Dem- H ! oqratic prognosticators, who do not seem at all downcast over their H j first defeat. H But this thought comes : The people in Maine have been enjoying H i unprecedented prosperity more, in fact, that their fair share, due H ! to shipbuilding and other war contracts. It is a fairly safe rule to fol- H low in politics that when times are good and the pocketbooks of the H peo'ple are fatter than usual, then they feel more friendly to the party H iiii power. This circumstance undoubtedly accounts for the shifting I of a few thousand votes from one column to the other. In a number H of other states, however, this rule is bound to work in inverse order H and do substantial detriment to the Democratic party. H All told, the political situation at present has so many angles that H no one short of an inspired prophet can safely speculate on the out- KJ) come of the ensuing elections. But it is safe to say that the party in H power will ilot have a walk-over at the polls. The primaries in a H number of the big states show that the Republicans are more than fl holding their own and are rapidly getting in shape for a showdown H fight. Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and California all Hj seem to be safely in the G. O. P. column, and we will yet hear from Hi J others. It looks like a close contest for the control of Congress. I M Hl Breathitt county, Kentucky, has but one man of draft age left. Hf All tr i others are volunteers in the army. Macon Telegraph. I THOSE GREEDY COTTON-GROWERS. IT wa's to be expected that the, Southern contingent in Congress would set up a howl over the proposal to fix the price of cotton at a reasonable figure.! They are all patriots, of course to hear them talk ; .and they believe in the principle of price-fixing and the practice,' prac-tice,' too, so long as it does not put a crimp in the pocketbooks o( their constituents. But the governmental price-fixers must n6t tamper tam-per with the cotton market. Oh, no ! that would never do ! It might discourage production, and cotton is needed to win the war. What logic, this? Yet these are the same fellows who opposed fixing the price of silver at $1 per ounce. They had the nerve to take the position that this was more than the metal was worth and that the finances of the government were in no shape to guarantee a royalty on the product. And when, in spite of their objection, this price was agreed upon, then they undertook to crow about how generous the government was with the mining industry of the West. Had not Senator Smocr sharpely reminded them that silver in the open market would sell for $1.29, and that the price-fixing of this commodity amounted in fact to a contribution on the part of the mine owners and operators of 29 cents on every ounce of silevr produced, to the cause of winning the war, the chances are that they would have really succeeded in making the country believe that -a Democratic administration had guaranteed a royalty to a Western industry. And so with pther commodities. The Southerners in Congress are more than willing to curtail abnormal profits on any article produced pro-duced north of the Mason and Dixon line, but cotton must not be molested. mo-lested. And to make sure that the cotton-growers get the top price, it is perfectly all right for Secretary McAdoo, himself a Southerner, to indirectly advance a few hundred millions of federal funds to these growers to enable them to hold back their product for the highest possible price. Cotton is still king in America and will be so long as the South is in the saddle. v 5p r r FACING THE FACTS. ONE cannot very well escape the conviction that when it comes to plain speech and matter of fact discussion of war questions, the British have the best of us. Thejr leaders have long since determined the wisdom of taking the people into their confidence, with the result that the papers and publicists and political leaders of , the kingdom are held in higher regard than is the case in America. In speaking of the advantages of telling the truth, no matter how it may hurt, and of its bracing effect upon the morale of the people, peo-ple, Mr. Asquith took occasion to observe recently in the course of a speech before Parliament: "What, then, is our duty at the present moment? What are the-faculties the-faculties we most need ? Courage, of course, and patience the courage cour-age that can face facts and cannot only dare but endure; patience that cannot be driven from its equipoise by any alterations either of hope or fear. But let me suggest one or two ways in which theji may be helped and fortified. In the first place, let us be able to fee? whatever comes or goes, that we know the truth and the whole truth. In my judgment we have reached a stage of the war when far more is to be gained than lost by laying before our own people all the actualities, be they favorable or adverse, of an unexampled situation. sit-uation. There is no reason, there never was less reason, why the voice of honest and patriotic criticism should be hushed into silence, but let us keep our eyes fixed and our hearts set one the great dominating purposes to which we have deliberately consecrated the resources and energies of the Empire, with an unwavering faith both in the worthiness of our aims and in the certainty that they will be achieved." $. To which Colonel George Harvey adds in behalf of America : "All that we want is discussion, and then we are sure to do well, no matter what our iblunders may be. One error conflicts with another ; each destroys its opponent, and truth is evolved." Hence criticism that counts. 1 |