The Voice
of the English
Speaking
World

The Christian Science Monitor-the international daily newspaper, is a vehicle for conveying daily to the progressive element throughout the English speaking world a more comprehensive understanding of world events than can be given through the columns of a newspaper of local circulation. History is being made rapidly, and true news editorially analyzed, free from the contaminating influence of selfishness in its various forms, helps every citizen to be a more potent factor in human affairs.

The Christian Science Monitor is on general sale throughout the world at news stands, hotels and Christian Science readingrooms at 3c a copy. A monthly trial subscription by mail anywhere in the world for 75c, a sample copy on request.

THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
PUBLISHING SOCIETY

AUSTRIA CAN'T; GERMANY WON'T

The replies of the German Chancellor and the Austrian Premier to President Wilson's statement of fourteen conditions essential to peace afford no indications of a desire on Germany's part to concede anything, nor of a possibility on Austria's part of escaping German domination. In other words, Germany will not now talk of peace otherwise than as a victor; Austria cannot and dare not act independently.

It means nothing for Austria to express a willingness to discuss at a peace conference matters which do not concern her own Empire directly, for Count Czernin adds that Austria will remain a faithful German ally-that is, of course, that Austria will support German claims as to-Alsace-Lorraine, the African colonies, and the German designs on parts of western Russia. Neither does it mean anything for Germany to announce her adhesion to President Wilson's first four points, for each of these deals with general principles, and each may be defined diversely. What Germany would regard as open diplomacy, freedom of the seas, trade equality, and reduction of armaments no one now knows. In Germany's dealings with Russia she has accepted the principle of "no annexations and no indemnities," and then quickly unmasked her intention of holding a vast amount of Russian territory. As to the other and concrete points in Mr. Wilson's programme, Germany's Chancellor is either evasive or scornfully defiant.

A single sentence saying that Belgium would be restored with due reparation would be a better basis for possible discussion of peace than all of Count von Hertling's elaborate subtleties. One almost welcomes the flat-footed declaration that Germany will never give up Alsace-Lorraine, because it is the one manly, straightforward statement in the Chancellor's speech. Even the acceptance of President Wilson's freedom of the seas idea is coupled with the insulting and non-apropos demand that England should give up Gibraltar, Malta, Aden, Hongkong, and the Falkland Islands! And Count von Hertling's reply to the demand for justice to Belgium is cryptic; what does the statement that "Germany has never demanded the incorporation of Belgian territory" mean? It may be literally true as to the past; it promises nothing as to the present or future.

One cannot help pitying Austria. Her subservience to Germany has led to degradation and danger. Strikes, food riots, threats of revolution, beset her. No doubt Austria might like to make a separate peace with Russia, but even the Bolsheviki would hardly consent to such a peace if Austria were to be left free to turn all her armies against Italy (to say nothing of the other allies), and Germany would never consent to a peace which would take Austria out of the war altogether. What internal Austrian conditions are may be judged when a Moderate Socialist can say in the Austrian Chamber, as Victor Adler said the other day: "The monarchy... must become a federal state of nationalities, for which the people are enthusiastic and ready to fight."

TAKING PART IN A STERN CHASE

The sweeping charges of intemperance among our soldiers in France, which recently occupied so large a place in the newspapers of the country, have again been denied by General Pershing in no uncertain terms. It may seem hardly worth while to dignify these charges by continued discussion, but as hysterical rumors have been so widely scattered over the coun

try there may be some value in attempting to give equally wide currency to the denial of the truth of these rumors. The pursuit of a slander is always a stern chase, and stern chases are always proverbially long.

General Pershing's latest testimony concerning the moral welfare of our troops was made public in a letter from Secre tary of War Baker to Governor Capper, of Kansas. Governor Capper wrote to Secretary Baker concerning the "persistent reports as to the immoderate sale of liquor among our forces in France, and in reply received a letter from the Secretary of War, from which we quote as follows:

You will be glad to know that I have just received the following from the commander of the American expeditionary forces : "There has never been a similar body of men to lead as clean lives as our American soldiers in France. They have entered this war with the highest devotion to duty, and with no other idea than to perform those duties in the most efficient manner possible. They fully realize their obligation to their own people, their friends, and the country.

"A rigid programme of instruction is carried out daily with traditional American enthusiasm. Engaged in healthy, interesting exercises in the open air, with simple diets, officers and men, like trained athletes, are ready for their task. Forbidden the use of strong drink and protected by stringent regulations against sexual evils, and supported by their own moral courage, their good behavior is the subject of most favorable comments, especially by our allies.

"American mothers may rest assured that their sons are a credit to them and to the Nation, and they may well look forward to the proud day when on the battlefield these splendid men will shed a new luster on American manhood."

It is not a pleasant fact to contemplate, but it is the truth, that the most persistent of the rumors to which Governor Capper referred were given the public support and sanction of the Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The statement issued by this Board in regard to the moral conditions of our troops in France supplied an excellent example of the kind of criticism of the management of war in which no loyal American should indulge. This criticism was of a destructive and not of a constructive kind. However justly Secretary Baker may be criticised for some of the deficiencies of his Department, few informed people will be found to question the splendid work of the War Department in its efforts to provide clean living conditions for the soldiers intrusted to its care by the American democracy.

advantage of this opportunity will be neglectful of his own interests and the interest of his family.

It cannot be too strongly urged that families and dependents of every man in the Army and Navy do their utmost to encourage the men in the service to take advantage of this offer of the Government. Relatives may wisely offer to help pay the premiums when such aid seems advisable or possible, in order that their fathers, sons, and brothers may not lose this opportunity. Not only will Governmental insurance protect families and dependents of men in the Army and Navy in case of death, but such insurance will also protect the men who are insured in case of permanent and total disability. In case of total disability a $10,000 policy will result in the payment of $57.50 per month for life to any holder. On January 26, 551,849 men had already accepted this offer and filed applications for insurance aggregating $4,663,420,500 and averaging $8,451 per man. There remain, however, at least a million more men who have not taken advantage of this offer. The time is short. Application blanks can be obtained by writing to the Bureau of War Risk Insurance, Treasury Department, Washington, D. C., or from any Army and Navy station. An application for insurance may be made on any ordinary sheet of paper, provided that it gives the applicant's full name, rank, organization, and station, the amount of insurance wanted, and the authorization to deduct the premium from the soldier's or sailor's pay. Such an application must be duly witnessed, preferably by the applicant's commanding officer, and the name and address of the witness must also be given.

February 12 is the last date on which this application can be filed by thousands of men in the service. For them the opportunity is like a tempting bargain at an auction sale. The Government the auctioneer, has already started to call, "Going, going-' When the hammer falls, we trust that these thousands of men will have "signed on the dotted line.”

AUTOMATIC GUNS AND AUTOMATIC SAVINGS

Mr. Herbert N. Fell, whose article on "Automatic Saving" appeared in The Outlook for January 10, 1917, now comes forward with the statement that the same reasons which made automatic saving desirable in time of peace make it doubly desirable in time of war. He writes us:

If we need automatic guns to whip the Kaiser, we need automatic saving to support our automatic guns. Money, men, and munitions are so interrelated in a war of such colossal magnitude as that in which we are engaged in Europe that lack of one cripples the other. The longer the war lasts, the greater the dependence of the Allies on all three. We wouldn't think of arming our men with the old muzzle-loading musket, yet we are using muzzle-loading methods in our finance. It is time we awakened. It is time we applied methods of automatic saving to co-ordinate with our automatic guns.

Mr. Fell believes that the Liberty Loan campaigns have not brought out some of the resources which can be tapped by using the principle of automatic saving in the present emergency.

He says that in each of the first two Liberty Loans we created a great machine for the raising of money which upon the conclusion of each campaign was permitted to disintegrate. What we need, Mr. Fell believes, is some method by which a permanent and continuous campaign for the raising of loans can be waged. Of course the best field for such a campaign lies in the distribution of Thrift Stamps and War Savings Certificates, but it is not enough continually to urge the purchase of these stamps and certificates. They must be sold in a way to encourage their automatic purchase by millions of our citizens to whom the buying of a Liberty Bond would be a financial impossibility.

During the great Liberty Bond campaigns many business houses did their best to encourage their employees to purchase these Governmental securities. In the majority of instances cooperation between employers and employees was whole-hearted and disinterested, but there were perhaps some instances where unfortunate pressure was applied, with the result that ill-feeling was aroused and sympathy for the bond campaigns lost. Americans have a wholesome dislike for anything which looks like the thrusting of benefits upon them. Most of us would rather be kicked in a democratic and neighborly fashion than kissed by charity or paternalism. Perhaps, too, the unavoidable delay of the

Government in the printing of the bonds of the last two loans may also have worked to discourage co-operation of the right kind, for those who bought Liberty bonds on the installment plan were left for a time with nothing but a hole in their weekly pay envelopes and without anything more tangible than a receipt for their money.

Mr. Fell believes that these objections arising from conditions under which the Liberty. Loans were financed can be largely met by applying the automatic savings idea to the sale of War Savings Stamps and Certificates. He suggests that business houses offer to their employees a chance to receive part of their wages or salaries in the form of War Savings Stamps. He sug gests that to make this plan of selling War Savings Stamps attractive employers agree to pay the odd cents which are necessary when War Savings Stamps are exchanged for War Savings Certificates. Such a plan, Mr. Fell believes, would prove the patriotic disinterestedness of employers, and would also encourage thrift and help win the war. One War Savings Stamp in the hands of each citizen of our country means more than four hundred million dollars for the war. That is a sum not to be despised. Mr. Fell believes that this suggestion, if carried into effect, would draw out a great deal of money not now in circulation. Its special appeal to the wage-earner he pictures in the following words:

With $4 in Thrift Stamps he could buy a War Savings Certificate which other persons outside the sphere of the worker would have to pay $4.12, or $4.13, or $4 and something in odd cents to obtain. He would see, not 31⁄2 per cent as in the first Liberty Loan as his reward, or 4 per cent as in the second, but 5 per cent compound interest. And with the 5 per cent he would have the additional impulse of patriotism.

The suggestion sounds discussible. How far is it practicable to carry it into effect?

THE GOVERNMENT'S PLAN FOR AUTOMATIC SAVING

Apparently the need of automatic saving is one which has not been lost sight of by the Government. The National War Savings Committee has its own method of encouraging regular economy and thrift. It hopes to accomplish this by the formation of War Savings Societies. According to the plan of the National War Savings Committee, ten or more persons, members of the same church, lodge, club, association, school, community, or employees in the same office, shop, factory, or mill, may form a War Savings Society by holding a meeting at which officers are elected and simple by-laws are adopted. Each member of such a group signs a pledge that he or she will

1. Purchase War Savings Stamps and Thrift Stamps amounting to $ or more weekly (monthly).

2. Aid the Government by buying only what he needs and only when he needs it.

3. By example encourage economy and thrift among his friends and associates, and secure as many members as he can for the society.

Each of these groups is to be known as a War Savings Soci ety, and upon reporting to the State director becomes affiliated with the National War Savings Committee. It is expected that regular meetings of these societies will be held, and that competition between societies will have an important effect upon the regular sale of stamps. These societies, it is hoped, will prove an effective vehicle for discussion and the readjustment of personal and family budgets to war conditions, and that they will heip to cut down extravagance and promote the investment of money in Government securities of all kinds.

There is nothing in Mr. Fell's suggestion, reported above, which is antagonistic to the principle involved in the organization of the War Savings Societies. Perhaps both plans could be effectively combined as a means of aiding the Government.

HOARDING HIDES

It appears that the meat-packers have been hoarding hides. Yet shoe prices have been climbing upward, and with excessive profits to the packers, who practically control the hide market.

During the past five years the slaughtering of cattle has increased some thirty per cent. Such a record ought not at the same time to mean that the country should be forced to pay