Слике страница
PDF
ePub

benefit the Croatian and Hungarian hinterland.

At this point the memorandum insists on the natural aptitudes and the technical resources of a seafaring nation like Italy, which, by placing both Fiume and Trieste at the entire disposal of the hinterland, would conciliate in the best possible fashion her own interests with those of the commercial clientele of the two ports. After detailing the concessions which Italy is ready to make in order to guarantee the trade interests of the hinterland at Fiume and Trieste, the memorandum emphasizes the fact that these two ports have got to serve Germany, Austria, Bohemia, the Jugoslav countries, and Hungary, and that they will only be able to accomplish this difficult mission if intrusted to the one power which is outside and above the political and economic competitions of all these States.

CROATIA DOES NOT NEED FIUME

It is not true that Croatia needs Fiume. Croatia's trade in the port represented only 7 per cent., the remainder coming from other regions, and especial

ly Hungary. The total trade of Slovenia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina in the Port of Fiume hardly reached 13 per cent.; the remainder went toward the ports of Lower Dalmatia. The carrying trade of the port, now that it is no longer undertaken by companies subsidized by Hungary, could not be carried on by a new State which sent such a small part of its trade into Fiume. Here, again, Italy is the one power capable of undertaking this mission-at first probably at a loss. Moreover, Trieste and Fiume will be able to work together, supplementing each other's services and rendering them more economical. Trieste could carry on without Fiume, but Fiume would be ruined if deprived of Italy's support. Freights from Fiume would be much lower if Fiume and Trieste worked together. The economic interests of the hinterland are, then, obvious.

Italy, the document concludes, has the right to expect that her moderate demands, which correspond to her rights and to her needs, and which are to such a great extent supported by the will of the interested populations, should be fully satisfied.

Austrian Peace Delegation

Arrival of Chancellor Karl Renner and His Colleagues at St. Germain

IT

T was announced on May 7, when the Peace Treaty was handed to the German Delegation at Versailles, that the conference had formally invited German Austria to send delegates to Paris to sign the terms of peace laid down by the allied and associated Governments. On May 9 the Council of Four gave special consideration to the impending negotiations between the Allies and Austria, while the Council of Foreign Ministers discussed reports presented on the boundaries of former Austro-Hungarian territories. The question of reparations was also discussed, and financial experts were called in to work out a solution of the whole financial problem. On the same date the Drafting Committee began work on the Peace Treaty with Austria as a whole.

It was decided by the Council that the Italians should play a far more prominent rôle in the presentation of terms to the Austrians than in the case of the Germans. An Italian Colonel, ranking with Colonel Henry, the French liaison officer who received von BrockdorffRantzau, had been delegated for the military mission, and the Italian plenipotentiaries were to have seats at the head of the table for the ceremony of the presentation of conditions.

The arrangements for the reception of the Austrian peace delegates and for their accommodation in St. Germain, the suburban residence of the early French Kings, and for the presentation of the terms of peace, were completed by May 13. It developed that the Austrians were to be subject to fewer restrictions than

their German allies. The museum of the Château of St. Germain, which had been selected for the ceremony, was fully prepared. The room in which the ceremony was to take place was much smaller than that at Versailles, where the Germans received the allied peace terms, and the conference tables, which were arranged in exactly the same form of hollow rectangles, filled it to the limit. Notwithstanding the overcrowded condition of the room, space for the press representatives had been reserved.

The Austrian peace delegation arrived at St. Germain-en-Laye, as the Paris suburb is officially called, on May 14, at about 6 o'clock. The delegation was met by M. Chaleil, Prefect of the Department of Seine-et-Oise, and by representatives of the allied and associated powers.

The first meeting with the Austrian delegates presented a sharp contrast to the first meeting with the Germans because of its greater ease and friendliness. The Austrian delegation was headed by Karl Renner, the Chancellor. He was the first to leave the special car. He appeared in the doorway with his hat in his hand and with a smile that put the reception committee quickly at its

ease.

The Chancellor was a plump, roundfaced man with a black beard and bald head. His eyes shone brightly behind a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles. He bowed courteously to the reception committee.

The head of the delegation was followed by Dr. Franz Klein, Peter Eichoff, and Dr. Richard Schuller. After them came the other members of the party, which numbered about sixty. Among them was Baron Rudolf von Slatin Pasha, a former high official in the Egyptian Government, who resigned his post because of Great Britain's declaration of war on Austria, and who had joined the delegation en route as a representative of the Austrian Red Cross.

M. Chaleil, advancing and bowing, addressed the Chancellor, saying that he was delegated to meet the Austrian representatives and treat them with friendly courtesy. He added that he would turn them over to Major Bourgeois, who would establish relations between them and the Entente Powers.

The delegates then proceeded in automobiles under military escort to the villas set aside for them, overlooking the valley of the Seine and Paris and lacking the high fences and sentries so much in evidence at Versailles.

The Hungarian Government had failed to respond to the invitation to send peace delegates to France. Professor Philip C. Brown, an attaché of the American Embassy in Vienna, arrived from Hungary on May 15, bringing unsatisfactory reports of the situation in Budapest. The Bela Kun Government had made no attempt to answer in any way the invitation of the allied powers to send delegates of peace to Paris.

[blocks in formation]

of the front, and it was just then that the effects of the great allied joint drive began to show. By September the front had been shortened to 722 kilometers, and by Nov. 11 to 642 kilometers.

The British held 25 per cent. of the front on Jan. 1, or 187 kilometers, and held this length of front until March 21, when the Hindenburg drive opened. The British front, according to the figures, was at no time more than 180 kilometers after March 21. The French held 69 per cent. of the front on Jan. 1 and only 55 per cent. on Nov. 11. The maximum percentage of the front held by the French was on May 30, when they held 632.5 kilometers, or 75 per cent, of the front.

The American Army held 1 per cent. of the front on Jan. 31, 1918; 3 per per cent. on Feb. 28, 4 per cent. on March 21, 6 per cent. on April 10, 7 per cent. on May 10, 4 per cent. on May 20, 12 per cent. on June 10, 14 per cent. on July 30, 17 per cent. on Aug. 10, 20 per cent. on Aug. 30, 22 per cent. on Sept. 10, 23 per cent. on Oct. 10, and fell back to 21 per cent. on Nov. 11.

According to the official announcement, the kilometers of the front held by the armies of each of the allied nations on the main western front in 1918 were as follows on the dates named:

Belg'n. Fr'ch. Brit'h. U. S. Total. .37 520.0 187

NEW YORK-WASHINGTON AIR MAIL SERVICE

HE first year of the air mail serv

THE

ice between New York and Washington ended May 15, 1919. The air-line distance between New York and Washington covered by the mail fliers is 218 miles. Here are some of the remarkable records of flying made by air mail pilots in the last year:

Dana C. Hart flew 191 legs of the New York-Washington route, covering a distance of 21,360 miles. Of these flights 179, covering a distance of 20,324 miles, were. made without forced landings. In his entire year's service he had but seven forced landings and five uncompleted flights.

Robert F. Shank made 138 flights, covering 14,334 miles. Of these, 129 flights, covering 13,700 miles, were made without forced landings. In his year's service he had but three forced landings and five uncompleted flights.

E. V. Gardner flew 102 legs, covering 11,422 miles. Of these, ninety-seven flights, covering 10,858 miles, were made without a forced landing. He had a total of three forced landings and two uncompleted flights.

Max Muller flew eighty-two legs, covering 9,242 miles, without a single forced landing or an uncompleted flight in his record.

Figures show that the Government made $19,103 out of the air mail service between New York and Washington during its first year of operation. Here are the figures:

Revenue from airplane postage....
Saving in railway transportation....

.$159,700

Jan. 31.

10.0

754

[blocks in formation]

2,264

[blocks in formation]

built at the navy yard, Mare Island, Cal., and to be launched in the Fall. The Tennessee is 624 feet long, 97 feet 54 inches in width, and has a draught of 30 feet 6 inches. She displaces 32,600 tons and has a speed of 21 knots. She has eight water tube boilers and a fuel capacity of 1,900 tons. Her armament will consist of twelve 14-inch guns, fourteen 5-inch guns, four 6-pounders, four anti-aircraft guns, and two torpedo tubes. She will

be manned by a crew of 58 officers and 1,024 men. She will burn oil exclusively and will be equipped with electric drive.

*

NATION-WIDE BOMB CONSPIRACY

ANATION-WIDE bomb conspiracy,

which the police authorities say had every earmark of I. W. W.-Bolshevist origin, directed against the lives of some of the most prominent men in this country, including Postmaster Gen

deaths will reach 6,000. Among the universities of Canada, out of 5,400 who enlisted from the University of Toronto 604 died; of 11,176 Oxford men, 1,412 lost their lives; of 13,128 Cambridge men, 1,607 were killed or missing. Of the Scotch University of St. Andrews, 811 enrolled and 117 lost their lives; of 3,363 Glasgow University men, 1,125 were killed or missing. Other universities suffered similar losses. It was found that 259 professors of literature, science, medicine, and law of Paris or provincial universities gave up their lives and the total number of teachers and professors in various schools and colleges of France who made the supreme sacrifice for their country is estimated at 6,000; 635 names are on the roll of honor of the University of Paris.

THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA

eral A. S. Burleson, Attorney General THE Boy Scouts of America per

A. Mitchell Palmer, Justice O. W. Holmes of the Supreme Court, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis of Chicago, Mayor John F. Hylan, John D. Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan, Mayor Ole Hanson of Seattle, and more than a score of other persons of prominence in the official or business life of the country, was discovered at the end of April as a result of the receipt of bombs by Mayor Hanson and ex-United States Senator Thomas W. Hardwick of Georgia. A servant in the family of ex-Senator Hardwick was seriously injured by the explosion of the bomb when the parcel containing it was opened by her. Thirtynine of the bombs were traced in the Imail within a few hours after the discovery, but no clue to the perpetrators was discovered.

[blocks in formation]

formed important services during the war which are summarized by the Secretary of the organization as follows:

In the four Liberty Loans they sold 1,967,047 subscriptions, amounting to $276,744,650; War Saving Stamps sold to April 10, $50,000,000 in 2,176,625 sales; standing walnut located, 20,758,660 board feet, (5,200 carloads;) fruit pits collected for gas masks, over 100 carloads; war gardens and war farms conducted by scouts throughout the country, 12,000; distributed over 50,000,000 pieces of Government literature; rendered invaluable services for the Red Cross, the United War Work Committee, and other national organizations serving the Government; furnished confidential service for Third Naval District; co-operated in A. L. A. drive for better books; served well in food and fuel conservation; performed countless individual acts of service to the Government not recorded under any special classification; presented a united front of patriotic zeal in every community, which in itself was of incalculable value to the nation. Nearly 100,000 Scouts earned the Treasury Department Medal in the Liberty Loan drives. Almost half that number qualified for bars in addition; 16,026 achievement buttons have been awarded for W. S. S. sales,

[blocks in formation]

GERMAN PIERS AT HOBOKEN ACQUIRED BY THE UNITED STATES

HE United States Government in

THE May acquired by purchase the

three piers of the Hamburg-American Line, thus leaving this German company no landing place in the port of New York. The price paid was announced to be $2,500,000. Acquisition of this property by the United States Government leaves the great German lines only three piers along the Hoboken waterfront and in New York, making it certain that it will be many years before the German interests, even with favorable circumstances granted them by the Allies, would be able to resume their traffic with this port in the great dimensions of the days before the war. The three remaining piers are those numbered 1, 2, and 3 in the Army Debarkation Station at Hoboken, and formerly were the property of the North It was stated by German Lloyd Line. officers of the Government in Hoboken that negotiations would soon be completed for the acquisition of those piers by this Government also.

A

* * *

FRANCE LISTS 213 RUINS

LIST of the historical monuments and buildings completely destroyed or greatly damaged in the German invasion of Northern France has been prepared by Louis Marin, general budget reporter, for presentation to the Chamber of Deputies, which will decide the amount of money necessary for the work of restoration. The list is a long one, and includes 213 monuments and buildings of historical interest more or less seriously damaged.

M. Marin reports that the buildings and monuments destroyed beyond hope of restoration include the great castle of Coucy, the House of the Musicians at Rheims, the City Hall at Noyon, the Ca

[blocks in formation]

The

BELGIUM REFUSES TO PROSECUTE THE EXKAISER THE THE Belgian delegation to the Peace Conference announced on April 21 that the Belgian Government would decline to prosecute the former German Kaiser if requested to do so. Any such action, the Belgian delegation holds, should be taken by a commission representing all the associated powers. official Belgian point of view is that the Kaiser cannot be arraigned for declaring war, violating Belgian neutrality, or for any act preceding or coincident with the declaration of war. It is pointed out that there is no tribunal competent to hear such charges against the Kaiser, and no provision in international law covering such cases, and any such action taken now would be retroactive.

Belgium holds that persons guilty of acts punishable by the criminal codes of any of the belligerents should be tried

« ПретходнаНастави »