THE ADMINISTRATION

CRITICISED BY ITS FRIENDS

Senator Hitchcock, of Nebraska, continued the Democratic criticism of the War Department, begun by his Democratic colleague from Oregon, Senator Chamberlain, in a speech on the floor of the Senate last week. He set forth the objects of the speech in the following language:

My is to present concisely the reason which had led purpose the Committee on Military Affairs to recommend the of passage two bills. One creates the office of Director of Munitions; the other creates a War Cabinet of three persons. In both cases, of course, the President would make the appointments.

Senater Hitchcock asserted that the Military Committee, of which he is a member, by its careful investigations has found that the work of preparing our military forces to take an active and successful part in the European war is not going on smoothly or satisfactorily. He quoted facts, figures, documents, and statistics to corroborate his assertion. The following is a striking illustration of some of the facts he presented:

We found that we are only now, nine months after entering the war, just beginning work on two great powder plants to cost $60,000,000, although it was evident last summer that we must have a million pounds a day more powder than America can now manufacture. We cannot get powder from these plants before next August.

Senator Hitchcock said that much of the work of the War Department had been found to be creditable and satisfactory, and that the officials of the Department had worked desperately hard. The source of all the trouble is, Senator Hitchcock believes, that our war undertaking is too vast, complicated, and extensive to be handled by one man, even if that man has conferred upon him all the powers which have recently been conferred by Congress upon the President of the United States. Under the stress, said the Senator, "the great transportation system of the United States is a gigantic wreck to-day." The shipping situation is the most serious of all, and the figures which Senator Hitchcock gave in support of his criticism of the shipping confusion are startling. Secretary Baker, in his second appearance before the Military Committee of the Senate, said that the country might expect to have one and one-half million American soldiers landed in France during the year 1918, in addition to the several hundred thousand already at the trench bases under General Pershing's command. But Senator Hitchcock pointed out that to transport such a vast army across the Atlantic and to give it the necessary supplies of food and munitions will require several million tons more shipping than are even in sight at the present time.

It is true that the Shipping Board hopes to construct six million tons of shipping during the year 1918, but it can do this only if it gets the necessary mechanics. Excellent shipping authorities, experts in shipbuilding, say that if we build three million tons of shipping this year we shall be doing extraordinarily well. "Yet," said Secretary Hitchcock, "the Secretary of War, who is compelled to depend upon shipping to get his army and supplies across the ocean, is so out of touch with the Shipping Board and shipping authorities and shipping information that he makes a statement that is absolutely preposterous.

Senator Hitchcock disclaims any desire to hamper or obstruct the Administration in its gigantic task. The legislation which he is supporting is designed, he asserts, to help the President and to liberate him from some of the harassing details which it

is impossible for him to give attention to. For "nothing but the genius of perfection and the power of omniscience could enable one man to look after these vast interests."

THE BULGARIAN MINISTER AT WASHINGTON

Demetra Vaka (Mrs. Kenneth Brown), a Greek by birth, but an American by choice, residence, and marriage, contributed to The Outlook of January 16 an article in which she called Stephen Panaretoff, the Bulgarian Minister to the United States, "an accredited German agent in Washington," and intimated that his official presence in Washington was a menace to this country in its war against Germany.

We have received some letters of protest in response to this article. The Rev. Arthur S. Hoyt, of the Auburn (New York) Theological Seminary, in a letter which he signs "Yours Indignantly," says:

Dr. Panaretoff is one of the best products of Robert College [the well-known American college in Constantinople], a special protégé of Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, a trusted friend and co-worker of Dr. George Washburn, always treated by them like a very son. For forty years Dr. Panaretoff has been one of the noblest forces of Robert College for the higher life of the peoples of the East. A hundred well-known men in America, graduates of Robert College, former tutors and professors, will stand by him. He is as liberty-loving as Theodore Roosevelt. I would as soon charge Dr. Lyman Abbott with being a secret agent of the Kaiser as Dr. Panaretóff.

Another gentleman, a well-known citizen of Boston, who has had as intimate relations with Robert College as perhaps any other living American, also protests to us in a letter in which he says:

I have known Stephen Panaretoff for more than forty years. Much of that time he was almost the same as one of our family. He was one of the early graduates of Robert College, and as tutor and then professor has been there ever since until he was called to be the Minister of Bulgaria to the United States. His ideals and sympathies are all American, and his wife is an American lady from Andover.

This testimony as to Minister Panaretoff's personal honor and loyalty, taken with other evidence of the same sort, comes with such authority that we accept it without question. But the very fact that he is a loyal and honorable man makes it all the more his moral duty to be a loyal pro-German. For his country, of which he is the official representative in America, is an ally of Germany. If he is not pro-German, he has no right to hold the office of Bulgarian Minister. If he is pro-German, he should not hold an official position in Washington, the very source of all the energy and plans of the United States in its prosecution of the war against Germany. Is it not an illustration of the curious muddled state of feeling in this country about the war that his intimate friends fail to see that the very essence of loyalty and honor prevents him from being pro-American and pro-Bulgarian at the same time? We do not for a moment assert that he will pursue the ignominious methods of a von Papen or a Bernstorff, but we do assert that it is his duty to transmit to his country, Bulgaria, any information about war activities in the United States which comes to his hands, and that it is, in turn, the duty of Bulgaria to transmit such information to Germany. If Minister Panaretoff does not do this, he is a disloyal Bulgarian Minister; if he does do it, he is a menace to the United States in its prosecution of the war. It may be debated whether it is wise and expedient for the

United States Government to declare war upon Bulgaria as it has declared war upon Austria, but, in our judgment, it is not debatable that the consistent and wise course for the United States Government to pursue would be to break off diplomatic relations with Bulgaria as long as Bulgaria remains an ally of our arch-enemy, Germany.

THE UNREST IN GERMANY

Simultaneously with the reports that strong repressive measures adopted by the German Government had put an end to the extensive strikes at many places came a new report of a labor outbreak at Jena, where a third of the workmen have gone out on strike. This new strike is a protest against the recent conviction of Dittmann, a Socialist who had led a former strike.

The German papers, evidently under orders from the Government, have done their best to minimize the recent industrial disturbances. But their very efforts in this direction have served to emphasize the seriousness of the revolt. When the Government finds it necessary to court-martial industrial workers in a building closed to the public and guarded by bayonets, its alarm is great. It may very likely be that bayonets and machine guns may keep the mob of Berlin and other cities in subjection for the time being, but this will not destroy industrial demands and deep dissatisfaction. The Socialist paper "Vorwärts" is right when it says that this movement comes from the workers' fear that they have been misled, and adds:

They want food and peace and Germany free outwardly and inwardly. Any attempt to hold them by force is dangerous. All thoughts of an attempt to force on the people aims which prolong the war, aims for which they never fought, or to keep from the people their promised rights, can only work as disintegrating factors. That to-day is our greatest danger.

This is a plain recognition that the recent riots were not solely or chiefly for food. They were largely political in the sense of being a great public protest against the influence of the so-called Fatherland party, which means to yield nothing for peace, not even Belgium. The influence of the Russian radicalism may be plainly seen in these revolts.

In an editorial on another page entitled "Restless Germany the meaning of the disturbances in Germany is discussed.

SHALL GERMANY HAVE A MITTEL-AFRIKA?

The world has awakened rather slowly to the German designs for domination over "Mittel-Europa." But few know that she plots what we may truly call a "Mittel-Afrika "-a solid belt of territory across the Dark Continent.

A YEAR OF RUTHLESS SUBMARINE WARFARE

February 1, 1917, was the date fixed by Germany for the beginning of its indiscriminate attacks on merchant vessels, enemy and neutral alike. It marked off vast zones of the world's ocean, and threatened death to all who would not comply with its humiliating and lawless conditions.

The most noticeable result, as a German Socialist has said, was to bring the United States into the war. It is certain that Germany took this risk deliberately, believing that her submarines would end the war within a few months. This was the boast of many German writers, and German officials predicted a loss to her enemies of a million tons a month. But instead of 12,000,000 tons of shipping in the year just ended, the actual loss of all nations is put by careful estimates at little over half this amount. The total number of ships sunk is about 2,000; the British list includes 1,190. The British reports do not, for sound naval reasons, give the exact tonnage of the ships sunk, but classify them as above or below 1,600 tons. From this a fair average estimate can be made. Norway has been the next largest sufferer, with a loss of about 300 ships. The United States has lost 69.

Two or three conclusions are evident: First, the dreaded increase in the number of active submarines has not appeared. This is believed to be largely because of the difficulty in making the right kind of marine engines fast enough. Second, there has been no steady rise in the number of vessels sunk; the record for the last six months is smaller than that for the first six months; thus, the average for the four weeks of January was thirteen, as compared with an average of twenty-three a week for the three preceding months. Third, the ship-building of the Allies has so nearly kept up with the destruction that the danger of defeat by submarine in 1918 is surely averted.

In short, Germany has failed of her purpose. The submarine has done great mischief and will do more, but it will not win the war for Germany. The murder of non-combatants has left an indelible brand of shame on Germany as a nation. Her people may well begin to ask if the gains are worth what they cost in loss of honor.

FROM THE WAR FRONTS

The most interesting news from the war fronts, so far as Americans are concerned, is a report from the American army in France. It seems that on February 3 an artillery battle of considerable extent took place between the German and Amer ican gunners on that portion of the line which, as Secretary Baker has just officially announced, is held by American forces as a unit. This engagement, while not of enormous importance in itself, was the first in which our artillery, acting on its own initiative, has engaged. It is therefore a matter of pride to all of us at home to read that the American commanders are elated by the skill and promptness with which our guns and gunners met the attack. When the Germans, after the usual preliminary bombardment, sent up a red rocket calling for their guns to place a barrage to cover a German advance, the American artillery answered the enemy's signal quicker than its own guns could by placing its own barrage or curtain of fire in front of the enemy's lines, and thereby stopping the threatened attack. In every way our artillery did good work and proved its thorough training.

The Italian armies in the week ending February 6, despite the hard winter conditions, drove an offensive forward against the Austrian lines on the Brenta River front, gained new advance positions on Monte Rosso and Monte Val Bella, and

showed decisively that the Italian army is now rehabilitated. In this offensive the Italians took 2,600 men, 100 officers, 100 machine guns, and thousands of rifles.

Another air raid has been made on Venice and other towns on the Venetian plain where, as the despatches say, "the peace population is densest and the military objective of the least importance." No serious damage was done.

The Bolshevik troops are reported to have had some successes against the Ukrainians-Ukrainia now claims to be an independent nation, and the Bolsheviki fear it because of its proximity to Rumania, and because a separate peace between Ukrainia and Germany would embarrass the Petrograd plans. The rumored capture of the city of Kiev by the Red Guard is a feat of some importance; Kiev lies on the Dnieper River, has a population of 250,000, was the first Russian capital, and from its antiquity has been called the "Mother of Russian Cities."

VICTORY BREAD

Our allies need wheat. There has been reduced production in Europe, both because of the larger diversion of man-power to the war and because of the partial failure of harvests. As if this were not enough, there has been an elimination of the more distant supply markets because of the destruction of shipping.

Our allies overseas need at least thirty per cent of the wheat we use at home. In order that we may reduce our consumption by that percentage, wholesalers, jobbers, and retailers have been warned by Presidential proclamation to buy and resell to their customers only seventy per cent of the amount of wheat used in 1917, and customers have been warned to reduce their purchases of wheat products to seventy per cent of what they were last year. To emphasize all this President Wilson has also enjoined the observance of Mondays and Wednesdays as wheatless days and of one meal every day as a wheatless meal. In order to provide sufficient cereal food to replace the missing thirty per cent of wheat, there should be, he adds, the substitution of corn, barley, oats, rice, and other products. Bakers are authorized to apply the name "Victory Bread" to all bread they bake which contains twenty per cent or more of wheat flour substitutes and to sell such bread for consumption on "wheatless days."

The President also directs, by special proclamation, all manufacturers of bread and other bakery products to procure. Government licenses. This proclamation covers hotels, restaurants, other public eating-places, and clubs which serve bread or other bakery products of their own baking. The sole exceptions are those concerns or individuals already licensed under the original provisions of the Lever Act and those whose consumption of any flour and meal in the manufacture of such products aggregates less than three barrels a month. These licenses, we expect, will check any extortion in the sale of bread.

23,475,000 RED CROSS MEMBERS

The latest returns from the American Red Cross Drive of last Christmas indicate a stupendous total Red Cross membership. The figures given in the "Red Cross Bulletin” are 23,475,000. They seem almost incredible. Taking the country's population as now 106,693,000, this means about twenty-two per cent.

Reports from the territorial, insular, and foreign possessions of the United States have not been included in this tabulation. The unprecedentedly unfavorable weather conditions which prevailed throughout the drive have continued, and even at this late date returns from all the outlying chapters have not yet been received.

Meanwhile the Red Cross work continually increases not only in extent but also in picturesque features. For instance, it is contributing the necessary articles to supply kitchens and material for serving the population of the Italian village of Spreziano. This village is on the Piave River, and is, of course, in the midst of the danger zone. The inhabitants of Spreziano are mainly engaged in the manufacture of wooden cases for oil and gasoline, a war industry. Why not save them and their industry to the country by transferring them elsewhere? Accordingly the Italian Government decided to move the village population intact to another location. It chose a suburb of Leghorn, quite

across Italy, and will transport thither all the Spreziano workmen, with their families, machines, and tools. It is a satisfaction to feel that our Red Cross is to be represented in the undertaking.

In France, aside from what the American Red Cross is doing for American soldiers there, it is giving or selling where it can-meals at its canteens to about a million French soldiers every month. Major Murphy, who has been directing our Red Cross work in France, says that in the old days the French soldier on leave would come to the junction points where he changed to take his train for home and sometimes would have to stay there twenty-four hours. The buildings, equipped to handle fifty or seventy-five people, would be at times bombarded by four or five thousand. Nor was that the worst. These men direct from the trenches, Major Murphy tells us, were infested with trench vermin, and were cold and wet; after sleeping in the open they got little food and that at an exorbitant price; the result of all was that they arrived home discouraged and possibly diseased. On their return they were bluer and still more discouraged. In co-operation with the French Government, which has borne most of the expense, the American Red Cross has opened a series of canteens where these men are given comfortable quarters where they can eat well, and sit about and sleep well too. The barracks are equipped with shower baths, and while the men are bathing their clothes are put through a process and the vermin killed. Moreover, amusement is provided. "When these fellows arrived at our canteens at first," says Major Murphy, "they were so delighted with them that they actually would not go to bed in those bunks at all. They sat around and talked and sang all night, they were so happy." They go back to their homes, we are not surprised to learn, in a different state of mind from that in which they left the trenches.

THE DEATH OF A NOTABLE AMERICAN

In the death of John L. Sullivan, one of the most famous and victorious boxers and prize-fighters that ever lived, this country loses a notable figure. That he was an acquaintance and often a respected friend of many eminent men outside of strictly "sporting circles" is good evidence that he had excellent personal qualities not often associated in the minds of the gentler sort with the rough and often brutal profession of prize-fighting. One of these qualities was honesty. John L. Sullivan was never known to "throw" a fight-that is, to fail to do his best in a contest in order to make money or enable his backers to make money by the odds in the betting. One of his old sporting acquaintances, so the New York "Globe" informs us, tells this story of him:

Jem Mace, the old English heavyweight, came to me one day, when he (Mace) was on the down grade, and suggested that I arrange a match between him and Sullivan. But Mace made one suggestion, which was that Sullivan should let him stay the four rounds, saying that he could not afford to be put out, even by Sullivan. I put the proposition up to Sullivan, who replied: “If Mace can whip me, let him do it. If I can whip him, so much the better. I will try to knock his block off from the moment I enter the ring until I leave it. I wouldn't meet him on the conditions he names for the Bank of England."

About twelve years ago, at the age of forty-seven, Sullivan's unrivaled physique became almost hopelessly broken down from drink. He tried moderation, but that did no good, and finally, as the result of a tragic experience, he became a total abstainer. For the last twelve years he has been a public and constant opponent of liquor and the liquor interests.

Two years ago, when he was starting out to deliver a series of temperance lectures, in an interview with a representative of The Outlook he said for publication in these pages: "If I had not quit drinking when I did and gone to farming with my good wife, there would be somewhere in a Boston suburb a modest tombstone with the inscription on it, 'Sacred to the memory of John L. Sullivan.' That is why I am quitting the farm and coming back' to have a go with a bigger champion than I ever was the champion of champions-John Barleycorn. There is only There is only one way to get the best of John Barleycorn, and that is to run away from him! There are men who say about liquor that they can take it or leave it, but those are the ones who always take it. And in the end it gets them."

John was a great fighter. During the ten years that he held