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Show i f! I 1 1 I wi fc "('"-, VurH Ha ' -J 11 a I tew from lie nir of the great, transport Leviatnan arriving at New Yoru wun tne Twenty-seven tn division. divi-sion. 2 German parliamentary officers on their way to French headquarters at Chateau Salins, Lorraine, on a diplomatic mission. 3 Company M, Three Hundred and Sixty-first infantry, A. E. F., in front of the hotel de ville at Audenarde, Belgium. NEWS REVIEW OF CURRENT EVENTS Quick Peace and Food for the Peoples of Central Europe Are Called for. TO CHECK ANARCHISM FLOOD Treaty and League of Nations May Be Separated Some Features of Terms Germany Must Accept Spartacans Desperately Fighting President Eb-ert's Eb-ert's Troops. By EDWARD W. PICKARD. Immediate peace, and food for the hungry peoples of central Europe. These are the two essentials, if overwhelming over-whelming anarchy is to be averted, according to well posted authorities on the situation. To these Frank Vander-lip Vander-lip adds that the speedy resumption of production is most imperative, "or the horrors of war may be exceeded by the horrors of this after period, which is neither war nor peace but a breakdown of the machinery of civilization." civil-ization." However wrong In some respects may be the senators and other Americans Amer-icans who oppose the present plans for the league of nations, they appear to have been right when they said the peace treaty should be devised and ratified first and the matter of the league taken up later for final settlement. settle-ment. The two propositions are undoubtedly un-doubtedly closely interwoven and President Wilson may yet have his way and see them considered and adopted as one, but the opinion last week in Paris and elsewhere was that the peace treaty should be closed up at once so that its ratification may not be delayed by the opposition to the league and the demands for amendments amend-ments of the present plan. The peace delegates recognize the necessity of submitting the treaty to the German government before that government falls, and in order that It may not fall because of longer delay. de-lay. It is hoped the preliminary treaty, can be ready by March 20, when the German plenipotentiaries will be called to Versailles to receive it. They will lay it before the national assembly assem-bly a,t Weimar and receive their instructions in-structions from that body. While the Germans will be given" opportunity to suggest minor changes, they will be compelled to accept the pact substantially substan-tially as it stands. Since this treaty Is held to concern only the belligerent belliger-ent nations; it will not he submitted to the plenary session of the conference, con-ference, which includes representatives representa-tives of the neutral nations; only the ratification of the supreme council is held necessary. Though the terms to he imposed on the Germans will not he so harsh as those first suggested, they will he so severe that there are many predictions that the Ehert government gov-ernment cannot sign them nnd live. If the ITuns refuse to sign them, it is up to Marshal Foch, and the wisdom of keeping a very large allied force under arms may become apparent at once. As it stood at the time this was written, the section of the treaty dealing deal-ing with the military cuts down the German army to 100.000 men with 4,000 officers, the force to be raised by voluntary twelve-year ' enlistments. All equipment in excess of the requirements require-ments of this army is to he surrendered sur-rendered and the munitions output correspondingly kept down. The Rhine forts are to be demolished. The reparation " to be exacted has been reduced to about S3.",n0f,000.000, and economic terms are being arranged ar-ranged with a view to permitting Germany Ger-many to resume Its manufacturing and commerce In order that it may pay the bill. This latter subject has given the supreme council- considerable consider-able trouble, mainly because of 1 lie stand mkon by the French, who want their own production in the devastated devastat-ed region restored first. The supreme council decided that the questions of the western German, Viiiiash and Adriatic boundaries should not be passed upon by the boundaries commission, but determined deter-mined by the council itself, because of their vast importance and difficulties. These include the frontier disputes between Italy and .Tugo-Slovakia. The commission on waterways, ports and railways recommended that the Rhine and the Kiel canal be opened to free navigation by all nations, the former to be controlled by an International Interna-tional commission and the latter to remain under German ownership and operation. . Poland probably will be granted the desired outlet to the Baltic sea, nnd it is likely she- will be given Danzig and the entire Vistula valley. This would cut off east Prussia and It is believed that state will .be set up as a separate republic, In accordance with the wisiies of a large part of its population. The violent opposition which these measures may arouse in Germany probably will render advisable ad-visable the sending to Foland of General Gen-eral Haller's two divisions of Poles now in France. That the Germans must have food quickly if the flood 'of bolshevik and Spartacan anarchy Is to be stayed is the flat statement of many who should know, including Secretary Lansing. In this policy there is no pity for the Huns; it is merely a niafter of self-protection self-protection for the rest of Europe if not for the world. Investigators for the allies do not agree with the statements state-ments that there is plenty of food in most of Germany, and the great majority ma-jority 'of authorities are convinced that the anarchistic movement in central cen-tral Europe is feeding on hunger nnd can he checked by provisions. The Ebert government virtually threatened to lie down and let the Spartacans have their own way if the allies did not consent to feed Germany. Whether or not the threat was a bluff, it has worked. With this was involved the matter of the surrender of German merchant shipping, and the Huns induced in-duced the allies to agree to -revictual Germany until the next harvest if the ships were given up. Letting a defeated de-feated nation dictate thus to its conquerors con-querors was said by some to be a serious seri-ous blunder, hut its worst effect probably prob-ably will be to encourage the Germans to be stubborn on other questions . where the allies cannot afford to yield. Three hundred thousand tons of German Ger-man shipping now in German ports has been allocated to the United States. In addition about 100,000 ton of German shipping interned in Chilean Chil-ean waters was allocated to America, but this may not be accepted if the shipping board finds the necessary repairs re-pairs would not be justified if the vessels are to be used by us for a short period. The internal condition of Germany is described as almost hopeless. There has been continuous fighting in Berlin and other centers, and while the Spartacans Spar-tacans have generally got the worst of it, they are persistent and very desperate. des-perate. In the suburbs of the capital the battles were especially bloody, Lichtenberg seeing the most sanguin-arj sanguin-arj encounters. The government troops used artillery and mine throwers throw-ers there and after some days succeeded suc-ceeded in ousting the Spartacans. Many prisoners were taken and were summarily executed. The reds devoted devot-ed a great deal of their attention to plundering the shops. Politically, the majority socialists are not meeting with great success or inspiring much enthusiasm in the people. Hugo Haase and the minority socialists are growing grow-ing stronger, and some observers say the only salvation from the communism commun-ism or chaos they would bring about is in the new democratic party which is getting into action. The fact that the chief of this party is Count von Bernstorff will not give it much standing stand-ing with the allies. It is to he noted, too, that Doctor Albert, former leader of plots and propaganda in the United States, has been given a cabinet position posi-tion under Scheidemann. One can almost al-most discern, already, the finish of the so-called German revolution against autocracy. Even now, it Is reported, the people are virtually ignoring the national assembly and its deliberations. delibera-tions. Seemingly, Lenine and Trotsky have given up any idea of coming to terms with the rer;t of the world, and are going go-ing ahead with Uieir plan of forcing holshevism on all peoples. Dispatches from Moscow say the soviet government govern-ment has appointed a Swiss named Moor to be "international commissar" with unlimited financial and political powers, with a view to promoting a world-wide communist revolution. In the Archangel region the bolshevlsts continue their attacks on t lie allied forces .and, though suffering severe losses, have compelled them to move northward from Vistavka. Information Informa-tion from the part of Russia controlled by the bolsbeviki is that though their army is increasing and is well drilled and well fed, the rest of the people are starving to death. Production of all kinds has ceased and transportation transporta-tion is so utterly demoralized that what "grain they have cannot be distributed. In a word, the soviet government has demonstrated its absolute incapacity and lack of administrative ability, except ex-cept in the matter of raising a conscript con-script army. In this Trotzky is largely large-ly following t;fe old system of the empire. em-pire. The war of words and ideas over the league of nations continues unabated. Former President Tnft and others of the plan's supporters admit the present pres-ent draft should be amended, and have suggested desirable changes. Senator Borah and the rest of the attackers do not seem to approve the league at all. The pope has rather weakly reverted to the' old idea of an agreement for international in-ternational arbitration with economic boycott of the nation refusing to submit sub-mit to the award of the arbitrators. He also would admit to the league every ev-ery nation. In this he is supported by Mr. Bryan, who thinks to require a two-thirds vote to admit a new member mem-ber suggests the social club, where a few black balls may keep out an uncongenial un-congenial applicant. Opponents of the league plan in America have formed a national organization or-ganization of which Col. Henry Wat-terson Wat-terson of Louisville is president and George Wharton Pepper of Philadelphia Philadel-phia is the managing head and director. di-rector. Its purpose is to create the machinery for conducting an active campaign against the proposed league throughout the nation. It will undertake under-take to reach every voter by distributing distribut-ing literature attacking the league plan. Among the members are many senators and prominent publicists. All neutral nations are to have something some-thing to say concerning the league before be-fore action is taken. They have been invited by the conference authorities to attend a private and unofficial conference con-ference in Paris March 30, to express their views on the constitution as drafted. It is believed now that Geneva Ge-neva may be made the permanent seat of the league of nations. Ireland is not the only country that is seeking to take advantage of the "self-determination" principle enunciated enunci-ated by President Wilson and accepted by the belligerent nations. Porto Rico strongly urges that it be made a state or given independence, nnd the Philippines Phil-ippines are urging that they be permitted permit-ted to paddle their own canoe. President Presi-dent Wilson's record leads to the belief be-lief that he will not offer any serious opposition to the desires of the Filipinos. Fili-pinos. Korea, also, has declared its independence from Japan, and the declaration, dec-laration, which says it represents the voice of 20,000,000 people, asserts they will fight to the last drop of blood in the great cause of liberty. The leader ol the Koreans is said to have come to the United States to conduct a press campaign with the immediate object of obtaining a hearing at the Paris peace conference. Two pieces of news concerning Mexico Mex-ico aroused interest last week. One was that President Carranza was insisting in-sisting on the payment of the confiscatory confis-catory "royalty tax" on oil produced b. foreign operators and that the entire en-tire controversy was likely to reach a critical stage again. The other was the information that the I. W. W. had established a revolutionary confederation confedera-tion In Mexico for the purpose of overthrowing over-throwing the clergy, capitalists and bourgeoisie, and that the chief of (he Carranza cabinet had signed an agreement agree-ment with them to have enacted the necessary syndicalist legislation. Members Mem-bers of the I. W. W. are to be designated designat-ed as immobilized soldiers for any duty in the way of establiiUIiij the desired results. |