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trenches, fighting like wild beasts. Horror makes them crazy. Help is coming to us from the left. The second company has fallen upon their flank. The French run like hunted animals. A shell bursts in their midst, catches twenty or thirty of them and throws them in the air like toys. They run still further, through the air, bowling along on their heads, gruesomely-and fall in heaps to the ground. Heads, legs, twitching bodies!

The French run until back of the bodies. The rest of them are cut to pieces, or made prisoners. But now our men must come back.

We struggle for breath. Wounded men writhe around and moan and groan heavily. The trench is bathed in blood. Far more than half of the company has been slain. We are only a handful. I assemble the valiant men and distribute them among the trenches. They stand resolutely, breathing hard and gasping.

A furious rattling and buzzing and hissing calls us again to our posts. They are charging anew. Now the whites again, in front, on the side. They are on our flank! Back of them the blacks in frightful clusters. "Bring the sand

bags!" The sandbags fly from hand to hand. A wall rises in the midst of the trench. The other half was overrun long ago and is a knot of struggling men. A piece of wood hits me on the shouldercrack-I cry out! A shot lands in the midst of our ammunition-it was our last. This way with the hand grenades! We have got to smoke them out!

A roaring hurrah! Heaven help us, aid is at hand! The Fourth, and the Fifth-I know the men-and some of the First, too-all mixed up-dispersed troops rallied again. Now, up and at them! The French defend themselves furiously. They hold the trench. The dead are heaped up before their ramparts-but keep it up! A wild passion takes possession of me. My revolver and my dagger have been lost in the fighting. I seize a bottle. Hell sends it to me at the right moment! Like an animal mad with hate I rush forward. My bottle lands, crashing and splintering, on a woolly skull, with a distorted grimace. A hot shock rushes through my shoulder -a shock-a wrench-I grasp at the air —grasp something convulsively-throw myself in the air-and fall in a heap. A confused mist dances before my eyes.

Colossal War Expenses Germany, and

THE

HE request of the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Bonar Law, for a supplementary credit of $250,000,000 on March 14 disclosed the fact that the total amount voted for the war by Great Britain for the year ending March 31, 1917, reached $10,000,000,000. A total of $3,000,000,000 was voted between Feb. 12, 1917, and the end of March. Great Britain's "victory" popular loan exceeded all estimates; the total subscribed was $5,001,564,750; the total number of applicants was 5,289,000.

Germany's New War Credit

The German Reichstag voted a new credit of $3,750,000,000 early in March. In submitting the new budget the Minister of Finance, Count von Roedern, uttered some significant phrases. He said:

of Great Britain,
France

Germany's sincere proposal of peace has met with a refusal. Mediation from the side of the neutrals failed in consequence of the decision of our enemies. The British blockade of the German and neutral coasts, which neither as regards the means by which it is put into effect nor its extension to different classes of goods and neutral countries corresponds to the hitherto existing usages of international law, has been answered by an actual blockade by means of a weapon created by this war. For this reason there could not yet be any written regulations in international law governing this weapon. This weapon is the submarine.

He affirmed that Germany was forced into the war. In discussing the new budget he said:

New taxation proposals are submitted to you which amount for the next year to 1,250,000,000 marks and hold out the prospect of additional taxation on war profits later on. Moreover, a further war credit of an

un

precedented amount-namely, 15,000,000,000 marks-is asked for. The payment of interest on previous credits is fully provided for. The safety law which became necessary last year provides for an increase of the legal reserve from 50 to 60 per cent., but the budget brings in during the financial year no new money; therefore, an additional tax of 20 per cent. on the existing war taxation is necessary.

Count von Roedern then pointed out the great value of the coal produced in Germany and imported into Germany, which he had estimated before the war at 2,500,000,000 marks. The idea of taking over the coal mines by the State had been rejected as impossible. Germany could. safely rely on her own production of coal and even on having coal for export during normal times. Coal could be taxed the more readily, since the prices at home during the war, as compared with those in foreign countries, were comparatively low. The average price in Germany, he said, was 15 to 18 marks, while Great Britain paid 20s. to 30s. per ton; Italy over 300 lire; France, in November, 125 francs to 150 francs for house coal; and North America $6 to $7; so that "an average tax of 21⁄2 marks on coal and 80 pfennigs on lignite was not too high.” Count von Roedern then dwelt on the proposed taxation of railway tickets and bills of lading. He pointed out that similar measures had already been taken in other belligerent countries. A tax of 7 per cent. would be placed on all freights and a tax of from 10 to 16 per cent. on railway tickets. He proceeded:

World's Total $75,000,000,000

The war credit voted last October is nearly exhausted. As in all belligerent countries, our war expenditure during the last few months has experienced a certain tension. Our average extraordinary expenditure during October to January amounted in all to 2,775,000,000 marks. I have reason to suppose that, as between both groups of belligerents, the proportion today is still two to one; the war expenditure of the whole world exceeds 300,000,000,000 marks, ($75,000,000,000,) and therefore not more than 100,000,000,000 marks ($25,000,000,000) fall on us and our allies, while over 200,000,000,000 marks ($50,000,000,000) fall on the Entente. The tension will not relax in the war expenditure during the next few months. The war credit of 15,000,000,000 marks is therefore asked for. Next month we must issue another loan. This exact picture, as shown by the budget,

is certainly serious, but our economic life gives no reason to look into the future with less confidence than hitherto. If the German people firmly believe in a happy issue of the final struggle which, in consequence of the plan of our enemies, has become inevitable, the German people may also expect that for this reason financial consequences are also to be deduced. Against the demand of our enemies for reparation we shall be able to put the word "indemnity." I have confidence in our economic future, in the unbroken financial strength of our people, and am convinced that, in view of our rapid technical development during the war and the firm determination of all circles of productive industry, everything which the war has destroyed will be rebuilt by our common labor.

Our strength is not founded on paper, as our enemies suppose, but on the unexhausted income of the people and on the fact that we did not fall into the slavery of debt to foreign countries, as our European enemies had to do in so high a degree. Our financial strength has been proved by the increase of the deposits in the savings banks, which in 1916 again exceeded 3,000,000,000 marks, by the extraordinary increase in the deposits of the banking institutes, and by reports of 400 limited companies, which show not only increasing profits 'but also wise reserves. The war has proved that we are united in the will to hold out to victory. I know that after the war we shall not be united on all economic questions, but there is one thing we shall carry over into peace time-the conviction that the development and increase of our production are of equal importance to all classes of the population, and that we must work together toward reconstruction. Federal Governments count on co-operation on these lines, especially from the Reichstag, which will prove its determination to do its share by maintaining sound financial policy, by the impartial examination of the proposed taxes, by providing the means for the continuance of the war, and by ready support of the coming loan.

a

War Expenditures of France

The

At the end of June France will have spent during the war in round figures 83,000,000,000 francs, or more than $16,000,000,000. The amount of the shortterm national bonds in circulation at the end of February was 14,500,000,000 francs.

In addition to her expenditures, France has advanced to her allies 3,875,000,000, making a total outlay since Aug. 1, 1914, of 87,000,000,000 francs. Loans made in the United States amount to 2,188,860,000 francs. The bonds placed in England will yield 5,927,128,000.

PRES

and Munitions

an

GEORGE REMIER LLOYD nounced to the House of Commons Feb. 23, 1917, that orders would be issued at once for a drastic restriction of non-essential imports, so that the full cargo space of shipping would be employed for food and munitions. He announced that minimum prices for farm products would be guaranteed over a term of years to encourage the farmer to plant every available foot of land, and that this would be supplemented later by an announcement that land owners would be forced to cultivate their land.

The Premier announced that a million tons of food luxuries and several million tons of paper, ore, and lumber would be lopped off the nation's imports. He said that the stocks of food were lower than ever before, not because of the enemy's submarine activities so much as because of the bad harvests. In the course of his address he stated that shipbuilding was increasing by special efforts, at some yards as much as 40 per cent.

The following is the royal proclamation, dated Feb. 23, 1917, relating to this announcement:

(1) As from and after the date hereof, subject as hereinafter provided, the importation of into the United Kingdom the following goods is hereby prohibited, viz.: Aerated, mineral, and table waters; agricultural machinery; antimony ware; apparel, not waterproofed; (except boots and shoes ;) art, works of; baskets and basketware of bamboo; books, printed, and other printed matter, including printed posters and daily, weekly, and other periodical publications, imported otherwise than in single copies through the post; boots and shoes of leather, and material used for the manufacture thereof, not already prohibited; brandy; clocks and parts thereof; cloisonné wares; cocoa, preparations of; сосоа, raw; coffee; cotton hosiery, cotton lace and articles thereof; curios; diatomite and infusorial earth; embroidery and needlework; fancy goods, known as Paris goods; feathers, ornamental, and down; fire extinguishers; flowers, artificial; flowers, fresh; fruit, raw, of all descriptions, (except lemons and bitter oranges,) and almonds and nuts used as fruit; glass manufactures not already prohibited: gloves; hats and bonnets; hides, wet and dry; incandescent gas mantles; jute, raw; leather, dressed and undressed; linen,

yarns, and manufactures of; lobsters, canned; mats and matting; mops; painters' colors and pigments; perfumery; photographic apparatus; pictures, prints, engravings, photographs, and maps; plated and gilt wares; quails, live; quebracho, hemlock, oak, and mangrove extracts; rum; salmon, canned; silk, manufactures of, not including silk yarns; skins and furs, manufactures of; Soya beans; stereoscopes; straw envelopes for bottles; straw plaiting; sugar, articles and preparations containing, used for food; (except condensed milk;) tea; tomatoes; typewriters; wine; wood and timber of all kinds, hewn, sawn, or split, planed or dressed.

Provided always, and it is hereby declared, that this prohibition shall not apply to any such goods which are imported under license given by or on behalf of the Board of Trade, and subject to the provisions and conditions of such license.

(2) As from and after the date hereof the prohibition imposed by the Prohibition of Import (paper, tobacco, furniture, woods, and stones) Proclamation, 1916, on the importation of the following goods shall be removed, and the said proclamation amended accordingly, viz.: All periodical publications exceeding 16 pages in length, imported otherwise than in single copies through the post.

Of the above articles now barred to Great Britain the exports from the United States in 1915 were $9,220,809, and $67,613,814 in 1916.

The Prime Minister's announcement also contained the following proposals: MINIMUM PRICES TO BE GUARANTEED TO FARMERS

Wheat-60s. per qr. this year, 55s. per qr. in 1918-19, 45s. per qr. in 1919-20, 1920-21, and 1921-22.

Oats-38s. 6d. per 336 lbs. this year, 32s. per 336 lbs. in 1918-19, and 24s. per 336 lbs. in the next three years.

Potatoes-£6 per ton this year.

In case the State commandeers cereals or potatoes, the maximum prices to be fixed in consultation with the Board of Agriculture.

FARM LABORERS' WAGES

As a corollary of the guarantee of prices, a minimum wage of 25s. per week to be paid by farmers to every able-bodied man during the period of the guarantee.

The National Service machinery to be used for deciding whether a man is able-bodied.

RENTS

Farmers to be guaranteed against the raising of rents except with the consent of the Board of Agriculture.

IMPORTS TO BE PROHIBITED

Apples, tomatoes, and certain raw foods; aerated, mineral, and table waters; coffee and cocoa.

Printed posters, paperhangings, and certain kinds of foreign printed matter and periodicals.

Foreign teas.

Certain manufactured articles of luxury.

IMPORTS TO BE REDUCED

Imports of paper material to be reduced to 640,000 tons, the reduction to be distributed equally between the printing and packing trades, and the use of paper for posters, catalogues, and for Government publications to be restricted.

Imports of oranges, bananas, grapes, almonds, and nuts to be restricted to 25 per cent. of the supply of 1915.

Is

A Deserter's Wife

'S a woman to blame if she receives her husband when she knows him to be a deserter and does not denounce him? This was the question discussed in the Paris Appeal Court in a recent case. Mme. Marcelle Veryken, a corsetmaker, aged 27 years, was surprised last July by a visit from her husband, who had deserted from the Seventy-fifth Regiment of infantry. She gave him an asylum, remained with him at the conjugal domicile, and did not denounce him. Arrested in September, the soldier's wife wrote to the examining magistrate requesting to be set at liberty. She had, she said, always lived an honorable life; her only fault was that she had kept her husband at home, and no one expected a wife to do less.

Mme. Veryken was released, but was Correctional brought up before the

Chamber for complicity in desertion by concealing her husband, and sentenced to three months' imprisonment. When her appeal came on for hearing the prosecution urged that in such circumstances a wife ought to abandon her home instead of remaining with a deserter, whose crime constituted a grave insult to her.

The court, however, took another view.

Canned salmon imports to be cut down by 50 per cent.

Indian tea, (amount of reduction not stated.)

(A total saving of 900,000 tons to be effected on food and feeding stuffs.)

ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS, &c.

Output of beer to be reduced from the 18,000,000 barrels now allowed to 10,000,000 barrels, (to effect a saving of 600,000 tons of foodstuffs per annum.)

Imports of spirits and wines to be further reduced by 75 per cent. on the 1913 basis. Rum to be excluded.

Imports of leather goods, boots, raw hides, and bottles to be restricted.

Timber for British Army in France to be obtained in France.

Timber for home use to be obtained at home.

Home production of iron ore to be increased.

and Her Dilemma

There was no proof, it maintained, that the wife had provoked or approved of the desertion of her husband, or concealed him. The court could not reproach her with having remained at home after her husband's return, for she was only fulfilling a legal obligation. It would be excessive, continued the judgment, to blame Mme. Veryken because she did not denounce her husband. To do so would be to demand of a woman having affection for her husband a sacrifice above her power. The court, therefore, annulled the previous judgment, and acquitted. Mme. Veryken.

A like indulgence was, however, denied to Mme. Desmares for a similar act. She, unfortunately, was unable to produce her marriage lines, and the case of the deserter, named Goujy, was aggravated by the fact that in 1913, when he saw the war approaching, he hid himself, changed his name and address, and remained in concealment until discovered in 1916. His companion and accomplice was sentenced to one year's imprisonment with the benefit of the First Offenders' act, and the deserter Goujy was sent to prison for five years.

By John T. Wheelwright

"Territorial aggression and national abasement will pave the way for fresh war."-Address of British Labor Independents, September, 1914.

B

OURRIENNE* reports Napoleon as saying in 1805: "There is not sufficient unanimity among the nations of Europe. European society must be regenerated. A superior power must control the other powers and compel them to live at peace with each other, and France is well situated for this purpose"-and thus of Germany would the German Emperor speak today. The great Corsican battled for ten years after 1805 to establish that supreme power of France in Europe, which was to insure peace on earth, but the nations to be controlled were too human to enjoy peace on such terms.

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At Napoleon's downfall tired Europe rested on its arms for nearly forty years. It is now proposed to substitute for the one superior power a league of States to enforce peace by mutual agreements, and President Wilson, in an address to our Senate, recently proclaimed his belief that the United States should be a party to this agreement, and that the present war should be terminated by a peace that shall stop short of conquest by either side.

At a dinner given in New York on Nov. 24 last by the League to Enforce Peace communications were received approving the principle of forming such a permanent league of nations from Aristide Briand, Premier of France; Chancellor von Bethmann Hollweg of Germany, and Viscount Grey, Great Britain's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

The German Chancellor in his message said: "The first condition for evolution of international relations by way of arbitration and peaceful compromise of conflicting interests should be that no more aggressive coalitions are formed in the future. Germany will at all times be ready to enter a league for

*Scribner's edition. Vol. II., Page 385.

the purpose of restraining the disturbers of peace, and will honestly co-operate in the extension of every endeavor to find a practical solution, and will collaborate to make its realization possible. This all the more, if the war, as we expect and trust, shall create political conditions which do full justice to the free development of all nations, the small as well as the great nations. Then it will be possible to realize the principles of justice and free development on land, and of the freedom of the seas."

The Chancellor's message is couched in language none too clear. Can it be believed that the German Empire will cooperate in this league? As Prussia, Austria, and the other German States were once members of a "league to enforce peace" called the German Confederation, it is conceivable that the Teuton allies might, after this war, under certain circumstances, join such a league and abide by the compact.

The "Bundes act" of the German Confederation provided that in case of a difference between two States the questions at issue should be submitted to a committee of the Diet for solution. When the Diet decided a question, and made a decree, it was the duty of the Diet to appoint a corps to carry out an execution against a Federal State. The Federal army was not intended to be brought into requisition except to repel a foreign foe. By the Federal act members of the Confederation were strictly forbidden to make war on each other. In case of a State proving refractory, a summons was to be addressed to it to conform with the resolution of the Diet. Then, in case of refusal, an execution was ordered, and a State or States charged with carrying it out; but before the last forcible means were taken another summons was to be made, so as to give the State at fault another chance to avoid punishment.

War between the States was considered

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