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the belligerents had been $197,000,000,000. In his statement the Secretary said: I asked the War Department experts to look up for me the direct expenditures which had been made by the nations engaged in this war, and they have left out all the devastations, and they have left out the dead man's strip along the western front, where cities and villages and farms and everything else have been destroyed, left out all the incidental damage, and brought me a report which is as narrow an estimate as they can make of the direct expenditure of money in the belligerent nations, which amounts to $197,000,000,000. Nobody knows what that is; nobody can figure or make any illustration that will illuminate that kind of statement.

Mr. Baker said it had been estimated that the total wealth of the United States was less than this sum.

All the land value, all the value of personal property of every kind, all the improved value, buildings, clearing of forests, building of railroads, dredging of canals, improvement of harbors, and everything man has done of a permanent value from the time Columbus discovered America until now to make this a civilized and settled country-all that remains and is here now, plus accumulated profit of industry, and the wealth of this country is $186,000,000,000, or about $11,000,000,000 less than the direct expenditures of the war by the participant belligerent nations.

The world of course is poorer by that amount. If the two oceans had swept together and swamped this great continental and industrial Republic of ours the money lost to the world would not have been as great as the direct expenditures of the participant belligerent Governments.

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THE ZIONIST COMMONWEALTH

PRESIDENT WILSON met a delega

representative American

Jewish Zionists, who presented to him a memorial setting forth the present status of the Jews in Eastern Europe and the effect upon them of new and enlarged European States; also a resolution adopted by an American Jewish Congress, held in Philadelphia in December, 1918, which set forth guarantees considered necessary for securing fundamental human rights to Jews throughout the world. The President replied to the delegation in the following words:

As for your representations touching

Palestine, I have before this expressed my personal approval of the declaration of the British Government regarding the aspirations and historic claims of the Jewish people in regard to Palestine. I am, moreover, persuaded that the allied nations, with the fullest concurrence of our own Government and people, are agreed that in Palestine shall be laid the foundations of a Jewish Commonwealth.

A countermovement in opposition to the establishment of a Jewish Commonwealth in Palestine developed throughout the United States, and strong protesting resolutions were transmitted to the Peace Congress by prominent American Jews who opposed the plan to organize an autonomous Jewish State in Palestine.

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DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSSES

GENERAL MARCH made public also

a table showing the number of Distinguished Service Crosses awarded to the different divisions of the American Expeditionary Forces, which totaled 3,819. The detailed figures are: 2,942 to the infantry, 251 to the air service, 238 to the medical corps, 183 to the artillery, 149 to the engineers, 50 to the signal corps, 36 to the tank corps, and 70 to others.

The Second Regular Army Divisions received 664 crosses, the 77th 146, the 27th 139, the 1st Division 300, the 2d 233, the 26th 229, the 42d 205, the 30th 177, the 5th 163, the 29th 150, the 32d 134, the 91st 134, the 89th 97, the 78th 95.

AN

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TRANSPORTING AMERICAN TROOPS N agreement was reached between the United States and British Governments on Feb. 17 as to the amount to be paid to Great Britain for transporting American troops to France during the war in British ships. The figure finally agreed upon was based upon the cost of transportation with no margin for profit. General March gave the following figures on transportation of troops:

We transported up to the signing of the armistice 2,056,122 men; of those the British carried 1,047,374; American ships, 898,449; Italian ships, 61,608, and French ships, 48,691. There have been embarked from France up to Feb. 20 for the United States 352,922 men. In that embarkation -in the return of these men-American ships have carried 245,688 men, or 70 per cent.; British, 75,174, or 21 per cent.; French, 16,368, or 5 per cent.; Italian, 8,773, and all other ships, 6,919. These figures show clearly the reversal of the problem; Great Britain's ships are now being used for their own purposes, the transportation and repatriation of their own troops, and are not at our disposal the way they were in sending the men

over.

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NEW MINISTER TO FRANCE

HUGH C. WALLACE of Tacoma,

State of Washington, was appointed on Feb. 15 by President Wilson as Ambassador to France to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William G. Sharp. Mr. Wallace is a Missourian by

birth. He was appointed by President Cleveland to be Receiver of Public Moneys of the State of Utah in 1885, at the age of 22, but held no subsequent public office. He took a prominent part in the Democratic national campaigns of 1892, 1912, and 1916; in the latter campaign he was a member of the Democratic National Committee. While officially a resident of Tacoma, he spent most of his time at Washington, D. C.

THE

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OPENING THE DARDANELLES

HE Dardanelles were thrown open to American trade on Feb. 15 for the first time since the world war began. The action was taken by the War Trade Board, following cable advices that an agreement had been reached by the Supreme Economic Council in Paris which would make such a step possible without destroying the effectiveness of the blockade of the Central Powers. Resumption of trade at the same time was authorized between the United States and Bulgaria, as well as the Turkish Empire, both in Europe and in Asia Minor.

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The output of the United States was also more than three times our output in 1917; Japan's increase was nearly that; but the figures for the United Kingdom are 584,033 tons below the blueribbon year of 1913, and represent an output 25 per cent. lower than the average of the three pre-war years, 1911-13; still they are higher than the totals for the previous three years, the present total being 185,224 tons more than that for 1917 and 739,885 tons more than that for 1916.

During the five years 1894-♂ the tonnage launched in the United Kingdom amounted to 74.7 per cent. of the world's total output for that period. For the fifteen years 1899-1913 the United Kingdom's share in the world output was 60 per cent. During the war, 1914-18, a very serious decrease took place, and only about 25 per cent. of the world's output was launched in the United Kingdom.

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NEW EMIR OF AFGHANISTAN

SIRAJ-UL-MILLAT-WAD-DIN, Emir

or Ameer of Afghanistan, was murdered while in camp at Laghman on the morning of Feb. 20. Official advices from Kabul state that an attempt was made, with evidence to warrant definite progress, to trace the crime to disappointed German agents.

The late Emir, who was born in 1872 and succeeded to the throne in 1901, was a great friend of the English. That, however, did not prevent him from receiving with open arms Lieutenant von Hentig and the German mission which came to him in the Summer of 1915. The Emir accepted money from them, but had the Germans arrested and sent to Kabul, and, as Austen Chamberlain, Secretary for India, said in the House of Commons on Nov. 29, 1916, "it would not be in the public interest to state what had become of them."

On Feb. 21 Nasrullah Kahn, the murdered man's brother, proclaimed himself ruler at Jellalabad; what has become of the natural heir, Mayatullah Kahn, is not known. Nasrullah had not up to March 17 been recognized at the capital, Kabul. The anti-British proclivities of Nasrullah would have created a serious situation in Asia had his brother been murdered during the war. brother took but a small part of the subsidy granted him by the Indian Government, leaving it at Calcutta to be invested.

This

In Indian official circles it is indicated that the India Office will not intervene, whoever becomes the de facto Emir. Seventy years ago it did intervene in the contest of rival candidates to the Kabul throne, expended many lives and much treasure, and received one of the worst blows British prestige even suffered in Asia.

THE

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ESPIONAGE LAW UPHELD THE United States District Court sustained the espionage law in the trial of Victor L. Berger, which closed at Chicago Feb. 20. Berger was a Socialist leader, and was elected to Congress from Milwaukee in 1918. He was found guilty of violating the espionage law and of conspiring to obstruct the war program of the United States. He was sentenced by Judge Landis to twenty years' imprisonment, along with four other defendants, including the Rev. Irwin St. John Tucker. The case was appealed. The prisoners were released on bond on their making a pledge that they would refrain absolutely "from doing those things and saying those things for which they had been convicted." The United States Supreme Court in a decision in February sustained the Selective Draft act and features of the espionage law.

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RAQU

FRANCE'S BUDGET

AOUL PERET, Chairman of the Budget Committee of the French Chamber of Deputies, in opening the discussion of the financial situation in the Chamber March 7 placed the assets of France on the coming March 31 at 159,000,000,000 francs and her liabilities at 181,000,000,000 francs, leaving a deficit of 22,000,000,000 francs, ($4,400,000,000.) He estimated that the after-the-war budget would be 18,000,000,000 francs and the revenue 13,000,000,000 francs.

Louis Klotz, Minister of Finance, on March 13 discussed the financial situation. He confirmed the statement of M. Peret that the deficit to meet was over $4,000,000,000; he stated that half of this could be met by increased direct and income taxes, and intimated that a tax on capital would be inevitable.

In consequence of the British withdrawal of the artificial support of exchange between sterling and francs there was a flurry in French finances and the franc dropped several points. The situation was serious, and there was renewed urgency that rates of exchange be internationalized so that France would not be penalized in the purchase of raw materials by unfavorable exchange rates or that the war debts of the Allies be pooled and guaranteed by an allied union.

On March 18 the franc was quoted at 5.76 to the dollar, being 15 per cent. discount below normal.

EGYPT SEEKS INDEPENDENCE ETAILS of an attempt by Nation

DETAL

alists to obtain complete autonomy for Egypt were officially reported to Parliament on March 18. It was announced that last November a deputation of Egyptian Nationalists under the leadership of Said Pasha Zagloul, Vice President of the Legislative Assembly, called at the British residency to advocate a program of complete autonomy for Egypt, which would leave to Great Britain only the right of supervision in regard to the public debt and facilities for shipping in the Suez Canal.

They demanded to be allowed to proceed to London immediately in order to submit their program. At the same time

the Nationalists elected a committee of fourteen leaders and commenced agitation throughout the country, collecting signatures to petitions and also subscriptions in support of their program.

Shortly afterward the Prime Minister Rouchdi Pasha, suggested that he and Adly Pasha, Minister of Education, be allowed to visit London in the immediate future in order to discuss Egyptian affairs. Rouchdi further urged that the Nationalist leaders should also be allowed a hearing in London.

This request was declined, whereupon the two Ministers resigned. They were afterward invited to come to London in February, but they declined unless the other Nationalist leaders were included. Serious obstacles were encountered in forming a new Government, and in consequence of an attempt at coercion the British Government deported the Vice President of the Assembly and three other leaders to Malta. Demonstrations and riots followed in Cairo, Tanta, and other Egyptian cities; six persons were killed and thirty-one wounded in the fighting at Cairo; at Tanta the casualties were eleven killed and forty-one wounded. It was announced on March 14 that order had been restored.

AMERICAN ARMY STRENGTH THE THE strength of the American Army on March 15 was 2,268,537, a decrease of 1,402,351 since the signing of the armistice. A War Department statement reported 1,508,133 officers and men, exclusive of 24,000 marines, in EuropeFrance, Germany, and Russia. In the United States there were 640,013 and at sea 64,203. The force in Siberia numbered 8,970, with 47,218 in the insular possessions.

A total of 470,736 officers and men of the American Expeditionary Force had sailed for home up to March 13. That number represented 24 per cent. of the strength of General Pershing's forces on Nov. 11 and left 1,478,580 in France.

Of the total returned home or on the way 176,516 were casuals, including sick and wounded. Of 687,074 infantry in

France in November, only 89,494 had been returned, while field artillery figures showed 73,058 sent home out of 213,846.

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VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR SOLDIERS IN AUSTRALIA

THE Australian Cabinet on March 18

approved a plan for the expenditure of $6,500,000 in the extension of vocational training to returning soldiers who were under 20 years of age at the time of enlistment. An earlier scheme for vocational training applied only to those who had no trade before the war. It is estimated that the cost of training and sustenance will be about $750 a man. It is believed that only about half of the 17,000 Australians eligible will take advantage of the plan, which is to extend over three years.

THE

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GERMAN AUSTRIA'S ASSEMBLY HE Austrian elections were held on Feb. 15 with 4,000,000 men and women participating. The result of the elections was a sweeping victory for the Socialists, who obtained 70 delegates, as against 64 Christian Socialists, 73 of various groups, 3 candidates of the Styrian Peasants' League, 1 Czech, and 1 German. A public meeting was held on the 19th in Vienna, in which 20,000 Socialist soldiers took part. The question of the republican form of government having been thus decided, the subject of union with Germany came again to the fore. Despite the warning of Count Czernin on Feb. 20 that Austria could afford to defer her decision on this momentous question, it was announced on March 5 that Dr. Otto Bauer, Foreign Minister, had begun negotiations with Germany looking to such a union.

The National Constituent Assembly met in Vienna on March 4. The Assembly elected Karl Seitz, leader of the Social Democracy in Austria, President, and Herr Hauser, Social Democrat, Vice President. Delegates to the number of 225 began the work of providing what is left of the German part of the old Dual Monarchy with a Constitution and set of basic laws. At this first session all the deputies expressed approval of the projected union with Germany. The Presi

dent, addressing the Assembly in favor of such a union, said: "The Entente cannot limit the right of free disposition which undoubtedly is ours." The Constitution of German Austria, which was under discussion, provides for a Chancellor of State and two departmental Secretaries. The Departments of Foreign Affairs, the Army, Food, and Traffic, according to the program, would perform their functions "only until union with Germany is accomplished." The Cabine was to be formed by the Social Democrats and Christian Socialists, the German Nationalists having declined places in it.

South German Tyrol, the Vienna newspapers stated, had applied for union with German Austria. All the Danube shipping companies were to be fused into one international company, largely financed by British capital. Food relief was to be distributed by the Allies, the Supreme War Council having created Herbert Hoover in effect Director General of the Austrian railway system; the relief trains were to run over all lines without political or military interference The necessity and urgency of such relief, which had been brought to the attention of the Allies on Feb. 20 by a German Austrian delegation to Paris, were again emphasized on March 14 by a report of Sir William Beveridge, the British representative on the Interallied Commission investigating food conditions in German Austria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia; this report recommended relaxation of war rigor in Austria, as the plight of the Austrian people was desperate.

IT

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GENERAL SIXT VON ARNIM KILLED T was announced March 17 that General Count Sixt von Arnim, who commanded on army bracketed with the Fourth under the Duke of Württemberg in the Flanders campaigns of 1915-17, had been beaten to death by peasants at Asch, Bohemia. It was said that General von Arnim shot at peasants gathering firewood on his property and that the mob invaded and pillaged his château after killing him.

Asch is the most western community in Bohemia, and one of the most beautiful, being situated on the uplands i

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