i iu 111 i iii j mi 12 EVENING PUBLIC LEDGE11PH1LADELPHIA, TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 1918 -rr PUBLIC XEDCER COMPANY trrxus h, k. cvrtis. f-itsiMXT. . Cbrl-i H. Ludlnston. Vice I-resldenti John P. MmiM. Secretary and Treasureri I'hlllp S. Collln, John B. William. John J. Upurseon. Directors. EDITORIAL DOAItU: Critcs II. K CvTU. Chairman t)AVtD B. SMILEY. . . .Editor JOHN a JIAUTIN'....0neral Business Manas. Published dally at PosUO T.rnoim Hulldlns Independency Square, Philadelphia. t.wootm CriTHAL llroad and Chestnut Htr a -.- . .. llrtaa.rrHlnil llltlli QlrlA ATUKTIO -lH . . . . .iV8.ln.oii ..ulldlnir Niw ToaK..,. IltTKOlT, ..... HT. lX)UIS..., Cff trinn. . . . . . 403 Ford IJulWlnr IVOR .r Utici fctisa lusi'siisn. ...1202 Tribune Uulldlnir NEWS BUREAUS! N. K. Cor. Pennsylvania Ave. and Jtti Bt. LomdoS UCiuo tendon Times' SUBSCRIPTION TERMS . The. ETIWIKft rrsua I.CMD l served fa sub Vrlber In Philadelphia end surrounding- towns at the rate ot twelve U2) cents per week, payable Sm'1? int m.l.l.l. of Philadelphia. In tho Vnlted States. Canada, or United Slates Pf' r-esslons. po.tago free, fitly (SO) cents per month. eesslona. poatare tree, nny ) " " "'"' 81k ($6) dollars per year, payable In advance, a To all forelcn countries one (tl) dollar per r Non'e Subscribers vrbhtna address changed must live old as well as new address. BELL, 3000 TALNUT KEY9TOXE. MAIN iOOO fcr AMreti all commimlcojlons to Kytnino Publlo Le&otr, Independence Bauar. DiHadclpnla. BSTnto xr tub mrunm-im post orricit is j, SECOND CUSS it ML MATTBB. rhll.JtlphU. Tu.id.r. April !J. 1918 BELATED RAILROAD EQUIPMENT TUB railroads, .which uiidor private man agement found It Impossible to get money to bhy new rblllng stock, are soon to bo equipped w(h 100,000 new freight cars and 2000 new locomotives. Tho Gov ernment has discovered what the railroad men havo long- known, that tho present equipment Is Inadequate It Is ready to And 1300,000,000 to buy the new cars and engines. Arrangements for awarding tho contracts have been completed. But this is only a beginning. Tho late James J. Hill said not long before hM death that tho railroads needed $1,000,000,000 a year for soveral years to put them in shape to serve the country. They havo not been able to get the money primarily for tho reason that the Government has been meddling with their business to such an extent that no one knew whether divi dends could bo earned on new capital. Wo are now forced by tho need ot adequate transportation facilities to raise this money at a time when wo nre straining ourselves to provide funds for carrying on tho greatest war in all history. It tho Government will profit by this lesson now tho country Is likely to profit In the future. Why did nobody, ever call them dachs Jbuns? Or did they? STATUS AND STATUS FIXERS ON'R ot tho first duties ot Mr. Schwab, the ofllclal announcements say, will be to fix ho status of Admiral Bowles at Hog Tsland. Only a little while ago Admiral Bowles was the most potent Btatus llxer In our midst. -Thcse are swift times. Few can feel that their status Is permanent. The war is upsetting the usual standards. Statesmen, captains, admirals, kings and roere citizens are having their status .changed for them overnight. The world Is making new Judgments to meet the com mon need. The Mayor's status has changed. The status of politicians Is swiftly changing', though they do not seem to know it yet. The Kaiser tried to change his status, but he bullded on sand. Mr. Schwab's la tho only safe way. Be your own status fixer. This Is good advice to aliens. Thus you will spar.e others the trouble of fixing your status for you and from the necessity of hurting your feelings In the process. O'JS'ell and Scott a ticket to catch the virtuous and the vicious? CAN RUSSIA BE SAVED? GBItllANY Is not having lis awn way in Itussla. The landing of' British and French troops at Murmansk to co-operato with tho Bolshevik forces In holding tho railroad whlon touches tho Ice-free 'port of Kola, on tho Arctic Ocean, indicates this. Tho Finnish White Guards havo been try ing to get possession of this road for the benefit of tho Germans, but they havo not got within S00 miles ot Its terminus at Kola. The road affords a strategic en trance to Russia and must be held by the Allies so long as thero Is any body of Rus sian troops willing to fight the Germans. But what Is more Important Just now than holding this railroad Is a concerted effort to counteract the effects of German propaganda among the Russians. German lies wero spread broadcast throughout the country last year and no effort was made to counteract them.'' The Root mission from this country accomplished nothing, forlt did not et In contact with tho people, Thero is still time to do some thing, for the war Is nbt to be ended this year and perhaps not next year. A thousand men who can speak Russian would bo worth 10,000 troops- or perhaps JOOTOOO -tcl tho Allies if they could be sent to Russia to tell the people- the truth about the war and what we are all fighting for. -Russians are no more anxious than Americana or "Englishmen to be ruled by Germans. rerhapa If some one higher up should have a vacation also conditions in the police department might Improve. A. ROOSEVELT DENIED US 7 SINQ13 the war began all tho astrologers who have tried, to read Its meaning in tho stars seem, so to speak, to have been kidded by the. very firmament,, It is en couraging to remember . this now when Catharine Howard Thompson, who for eighteen years has been one of the most ateed star gazers In Boston, avows that Archo Roosevelt, Jr., the youngest grandT child of Theodore, rnayjtf'ltvo anywhere but tn Philadelphia" whenhe grows up. Why ArchU cannot live here the stars do not lis the Philadelphia ol tho future tp be a city ot righteousness -unquestioned or are ivo to be left desolately to the whims ot a aiatltn fate Surely the rampant corpuscle q rid red and the; Bavogo love of goodness to ic-U Archlo Jr.' grandpapa has dedicated lu.- di mlgljt W of atfvtco. to us here udMMfe ws aro to tx reliaved of William an Krt and TttefaHM imI lb jri pf them Kfwit kojir isJtfruthe war. mmMuy 4owrm W3V that WHERE IS THE LEADER? INHERE is no secret about tho reason for police conditions here. The voters themselves nro responsible for them. Thoy havo consented to tho exploitation of trio city by a group of men whoso god is their bank account. Government, ac cording to their theory, exUts for tho benefit of tho men who can control tho patronage. Only such homage is paid to decency as is forced by tho knowlcdgo that there is n limit beyond which tho exploiters cannot go and still retain their hoi I c government. Tho whole city consented to the election of Mayor Smith. It was known at the time why ho was nominated. Yet tho broad-minded, influential citizens neglect ed to get together and demand the nomi nation of a high-class candidate of recog nized ability who would perforce com mand the public confidence. The men who should have led loitered in the camps of ease and- they and tho rest of us have got what we deserved. ' We are told now that the way to im prove conditions is to get n new law pas -.d, as though a few words printed on n piece of paper could change tho pur pose of this community. A newspaper, which was silent during tho administra tions of Reyburn and Ashbridgc and raised no protest against the scandalous police conditions then, is now saying that all the present scandal is caused because tho police are in politics and that there can be no improvement tilt they are taken out. It says: Captnln Mills, wo havo no douht, will make. good, llut the political machine re mains. Tho police nro Its product. While the roots of n treo nre ullvc the tree .Itself Is alive. The lopping off of a few branches docs not 1(111 It. And the roots of a vicious pollc-c-lifpolltlcs sjstcm are still firmly embedded. But these roots can lie torn up. and they must lie. How? By demanding of tho next Legislature the adoption of District Attorney Ilotan's bill creating a metropoli tan police system. Xo Mayor could Inter fere with that system. Thero would be no Director Wilson, no Assistant Director Davis, no Superintendent Itoblnnon. There would be, In fact, a complete severance of the police from politics. And that Is what wo must have. This sort of flapdoodle is not likely to deceive nny one. In the first place, who ever has given any serious thought to the subject knows that the root of the trouble does not lie in the connection of the police with politics, but in tho in difference of the maps of the voters to the decent government of their own city. Indifference? Yes, they are indifferent so long as no adequate alternative to the present machine rule is offered to them. Wc have confidence enough in our fellow men to believe that the moment there is any prospect of putting the right sort of men in City Hall tho voters will rally in support of the movement. In the second place, the police cannot be taken out of politics by transferring their control from Penn Square to Hnr risburg. There is just as crooked politics in Ilarrjsburg as here. If we hnd a met ropolitan police force now, with its head appointed by Governor Brumbaugh, does any one doubt that that man would havo been Ditector Wilson? The men who dic tate the Governor's appointments dic tated the appointment of Wilson. And if. the Governor happened to belong to a faction which did not control the Mayor, the police head would be a political ap pointee, whose chief duty would be to weaken the power of the faction domi nant here. We should have a Penrose Director of Public Safety fighting a Vare Mayor, or a Penrose Mayor fighting n Vare Director of Public Safety, accord ing to the dominance of one faction or another here and in the State capital. We do not need to change the laws but to change the kind of men elected to ad minister them. A police ripper bill at Harrisburg would only embed the police in politics so firmly that it would be im possible for a local political unhcavnl to break it loose. The people nre in no mood to be fooled by any such fraudulent reform. They" prefer the ills we suffer to the greater ills they know to be inherent in the sug gested change. Indeed, the whole ten dency of municipal reform is in tho di rection of home rule for the cities, with fixed responsibility upon officials readily reached by public opinion. What we need is more homo rule and not less. But what we need abovo all is an aroused and alert leadership prepared at any cost to give the people a choice between tho things we now have and the things we ought to have. They will choose right, if they have the opnortunity. But tho men who ought to point tho way are indifferent. Will they go to the primaries next month and vote for clean, decent, honest, four-square candi dates for all offices, or will they sit in their clubs and counting rooms bewail ing the disgrace which has fallen on the city, and failing to perceive that a greater disgrace has fallen on them? The forces of righteousness nro ready. Where, oh, where, is the man to lead them? An earthquake In California? But nat ural cataclysms do not seem to stir us now that a single battle Is destroying more lives than the most disastrous earthquake on record, FALLING IDOLS G ROVER CLEVELAND ALEXANDER, brightest star in the baseball diadem of a place known as Chicago, was drafted for army service In order that one' more man already In camp might be released to work on a farm. This explanation Is made without a blush by the draft board at St, Paul. Two years ago any one who called Alex ander a farmer would lridubltably have been called mad In turn. Now Alexander 13 merely the humble substitute for a farmer. Times and valuations change. The really essential things are seldom ap preciated until a crisis. One bushel of potatoes Is of more actual value now than any game ot professional ball. What patriot will contribute that I8C 000 which the Organization expected to col lect from the police? THE BIT OF GREEN , Iff THE smoke of the American sector In Franco the other day. over No Man's Land, where all things are colorless, there trtmied a tit Of green. It was the flag' of Irktarifl going oyer the. top, fixed solidly' to tk bayonet of, an Asieriean Infantryman, '$N CMors s-rejwt, nL In action nows- MV UB W CU( 4 1IISIH hpnorcd. It, was cut up In close fighting and badly stained ami it Is to be brought, to this country to bo preserved, let lis hopo, forever, l Many will read of all this with smiles of tolerant sympathy. Wiser men nre likely to find a mist between their eyes and this odd bit of news as they stop to pon der tho difficult course of Ireland In rela tion to tho great war and tho tragedies of thoso trf her misguided statesmen who believed that Germany might understand and old them. For no fighting Gormnn who paw the flick of green rise suddenly from tho dust ahead of hjm could under stand what It Was all about. Tho green, flag is worshiped 'by tho Irish largely be cause It has flown only In sad places; because of the tears that have been shed undor It; becauso of lost causes which It led; becauso It Is lonesome In tho world. With tho wlstfulcst' of nations It Is tho invarlablo habit passionately to lovo llttlo and lonesomo things. But tho graco of pity that Is llko a secret music In all tho literature of Ireland Is a thing unknown nnd incomprehensible to tho Hun. Ger many reserves Its admiration for Iron and for triumph and for selfishness. The phi losophy of Berlin nnd that ot Ireland aro as far removed as tho poles. t The German war prisoners here say they do not want to go homo when peace, comes. They would better postpono their de cision till they knpw what kind of n Ger many there will bo'lo go home to. "Wo wlll-mako Philadelphia the cleanest city In America," says Cnptaln- Mills. Go to It I No one but thoso who have been profiting by the dirt will object, John l'urroy Mllchel, The Tlser former Mayor of Now Tamer York, Is learning tho tail-spin nnd tho loop- the-Ioop nnd other llttlo stunts tho nlrmen love. Ought to be easy for a man who hns learned to twist tho tall of tho Tammany tiger. A couple ot Brooklyn girls have tried to nrgMiIze n battalion of Anjlhlnir (o Keape death. It seems as though tho evening Jam on the Brooklyn bridge and tho subway ought to bo homicidal enough. Hut perhaps they're tired of the city of unburied dead? BEEF, IRON AND WINE Our Foreign Correspondence A LETTER from Franco &ays: Ono ot " tho pollus hero used to go up to an American ofllcer every day, galuto very gravely, and say, 'What time docs tho train leave?' The ofllcer would reply, with equal seriousness and courtesy, 'Damflno!' Tho Frenchman would salute again, say 'thank you' nnd walk away. It was nil the Eng lish ho knew. Ono of our boys had taught It to him, telling him It was a form of polite salutation." A letter from England says: "A curious incident happened hero Inst week. A lady got Into a railway carriage whero wero seated a gypsy woman, a soldier and a civilian. In passing i'ic private, tho lady held back her skirts, at which the gypsy called out, 'You needn't do that, Madam; he has four pounds In his pocket while you have only jsevenpenco.' Tho civilian, interested, inquired, 'How much have I got?' 'Five pounds,' said tho gypsy. In each caso the sums of money had been correctly divined. "But there was one more question for tho gypsy. 'When will tho war end?' 'In May.' " Humphrey Hack writes that his favorite desk motto Is taken from one of Samuel Butler's books. It Is: He that is stupid in llttlo will be stupid also in much. We have to be a llttlo sharp'wlth Dovo Dulcet, for all the publicity he's been getting seems to hive turned his heajl. Ho says some of tho magazines have been after him, and unless we raise his rates ho'll give them his stuff Instead of us. Any way, his poem today Is quite a feat. Hero It Is: Julia has a graceful ankle; slim It was when I es pied It. Still It rather makes mo rankle that she never tries to hide It. She Is Dear Socrates; To settle a dispute, will you kindly inform mo am I right or is she? HUSBAND. RHEIMS CATHEDRAL is Just as dear to Franco as Independence Hall to Philadelphia. Rhelms Cathedral has been set on fire again, is a burned and blackened wreck, the marvelous vaulted roof is falling, stono by stone. THE great cathedral of human civiliza tion will crumble, stone by stone, unless we do our utmost to support America's war effort. There are long, hard days before us. There Is only oae way to end them: BUY LIBERTY BONDS. This being Shakespeare's birthday, It seems timely to announco to tho world our discovery of a cipher proving conclusively that Shakespeare's sonnets Were written by our own Dovo Dulcet. One can take almost any ot the sonnets to prove this.- For In stance, the 10th, one ot the most famous." It begins: Devouring' time, blunt thou the lion's paws, And make the earth devour her own sweet r brqod ; pluck, the keep teeth from the fierce tiger's Jaws, etc. ' i Is it not plain that the first four letters of the first word are simply an anagram tor DOVE? To make it plainer, the author lias repeated the samo word In the second line. And, then examine the text with cer tain letters, selected by a very simple cypher, emphasized by capitals: DevolTr her own sweet brood; pLuCk thK keen Teeth. It any doubt were possible, Mr. Dulcet has settled it by the following subtle ana-v gram, farther down -In the same sonnet: But I fOrllld thlie ono moSt heinous crime: O carve not with ThV hours my love's fair brow If, that, floes not provo that'j IJiakeapearo oaiiMiTrom 0UUuj, j wn -fcould? rasa. WHY I LOVE SHAKESPEARE fly Jama A. Flalierty At the request of the BveMng PuWc Lcifacr, itr. Flaherty, iHitlnguUheil laicicr of this city, hat iflrttlett for Shakespeare' .HSUh birthday thh article about Mj avor- Ue poet, HAVING carried ono or more volumes of Shakespeare with mo every day for fifty years, I respond with pleasure to tho editor's request to tell what Shakespcaro has meant to me. I am no trained scholar, nor have I had tho privilege of talking with tho great teachers who havo made Shakespeare their life study. It may seem presumptuous of mo to don the robe of authority. "That's a valiant flea that dnro cnt his breakfast on tho lip of a Hon," But the message I want to'cmphoslzo Is how much Shake spcaro may mean to tho plain man, the business or professional man, or Indeed any ono who faces tho universal problems of humanity. I lovo Shakespeare because all my life I havo found In his words tho richest commentary on all human acts and motives. Ho holds tho mirror up to nature. Ho depicts the human heart with clarity, with beauty and with, the truth that every one recognizes nnd affirms from his own life. T WAS thirteen years old, a boy at the old Northeast Grammar School, when I first became" interested In Shakespeare. Ono of my fellow scholars, Gus Seeds, a brother of Jacob Seeds, had a great ambi tion to go on the stage. Ho was reading Shakespcaro night nnd day and got me to study the plays witli Him, each of us reading different parts. I read Casslus nnd Brutus to his Caesar, and In that way my lifelong passion began. How we saved our pennies as boys to go to the gods' gallery nt the old Walnut Street Theatro und see tho great onc.i play! I saw Ed, win Forrest ns Lear, The Booth, Fechtcr, Barry Sullivan ns Richard III, Henry Irving nntl E. L. Davenport, who was my Ideal of an actor. I was ono of thoso who founded tho Davenport Dra matic Association In this city. Wo used to read Shakespeare and play tonic ot tho easier pieces. QOME of my friends smile at my Shake- spearean passion nnd seem to think It a harmless kind of eccentricity, but I as sure you that iio ono thing has filled my life with so much happiness and depth of feeling as my lovo for his writings. He has put sunshine In my life. Wo may say with Hamlet, "See what a graco was seated on this brow." Shakespeare has become tho very fiber and tlssuo of our language. Men speak Shakespeare without knowing It. "He Jests at scars that never felt a wound." "Brev ity Is tho soul of wit." "Mum's the word." Who does not use these phrases In his own speech? "Bully," that adjective which wo associate with Mr. Roosevelt, Is Shakespearean; It comes from tho "Mid summer Night's Dream." A year or so ago I was speaking to an audience at Newburgh. N. Y. Afterward a gentleman who had been present came up to moon tho train and said: "I think you must bo a great Shakespearean; In your talk I counted twenty-one Shakespearean quota tions that you uttered unconsciously. I dare say thero were more that I did not recognize." Wo had a very pleasant con versation and he, too, turned out to be a lifelong admirer of tho dramatist. T WAS admitted to tho bar In December, J- 1874, and part ot my working library from the first has been a complete Shake speare. I now keep in my office, nmong many other Shakespeare volumes, a fine old Porter & Coates edition, published 1SC8, which was given mo in 1875 by my friend Jefferson Henri. "Can ono deslro too much ot a good thing?" I know no better food for a lawyer's mind to feast on than Shake speare. Tho poet knew a good deal about law, n3 indeed ho teems to havo had a bmattcrlng of everything. "Time, the old Justlco that oxamlncs nil offenders; and let Time try you!" What better advlco to a lawyer than this, "A rotten caso abides no handling!" I havo forty-two little vest-pocket vol umes of Shakespeare; beautiful llttlo books, not much mere than an Inch long. I carry two or three of these In my pocket every day, and for moro than fifty years I Jiavo not let a day go by, in sickness and health, without reading a scene or an act. In these terrible days when the hearts of men havo heavy burdens to bear, I havo found in these beloved plays Infinite in spiration and encouragement. Mankind that was noble enough to bring to expres sion tho marvelous genius of Shakespeare Is noble enough to find Its way beyond and above tho hell of conflict that saddens us today. And to fighters in tho great cause Shakespearo has many heartening words. As ho says, "Tho arms are fair when tho Intent of bearing them is Just," TT1RIENDS often ask mo what are my favorite plays. The question Is almost unanswerable. If I had to choose four, perhaps they would bo "Hamlet," "The Merchant of Venice," "Twelfth Night" and "As You Like It," and yet that leaves' out my old and first friend, "Julius Caesar." It seems to me that Shakespeare is not played enough in our theatres nowadays, In these serious times I think the public would wolcomo with open hearts the words of tho greatest English-speaking man who ever put pen on paper, When young men como to mo for advice as to their careers tho first thing I always say Is, "Read Shakespeare." He is the greatest school, master of all; a purifier of passion, an en nobler of the will, a dose of honest fun' and good philosophy. No man is too great for Shakespeare and none Is too low. He reaches through the whole scale of hu manity. I HAVE turned thousands to reading Shakespeare, anJ if this little article should gain one more convert I shall be very happy. It Is 354 years today since he was born, and 354 years hence I sup pose men will be reading him more than ever. Of him wo may say what Hamlet said ot man: "WJiat a piece of work is a mant How noble Jn reason; how infinite in faculty) In form, in moving, how express and ad mirable! in action, how like, an angel! In hpprehenulon, how like a' god I the buty pf.the world I tit Pftrugort p sintoMOst" fflffl8RmBm "ir&St! ''' Vfrf?Srf sE&&mmmmEMBmg LUDENDORFFS REIGN OF TERROR Civilians Acquitted of Charges of Treason Are Kept in Prison. Germany Ruled by the Military Powers By D. F. KOSPOTII ii Sprciat Correspondence llvcutna Public I.ttlun lJcrne, March 31. u NDEIl existing conditions a term of sev eral years In a German "ZuchthaUs" is, ras a matter Of fact, synonymous with cap ital punishment. Only persons with an Iron constitution survive for long this ordeal of utterly Insufficient food and Ill-treatment. Even before the war Prussian, penitentiaries were, In tplto of all modern Improvements, noted for their Tlgorous administration. To day, with starvation facing tho entire popu lation, It Is easy enough to Imagine what terrible privations these political prisoners must 'endure, between whom nnd ordinary criminals no difference whatever Is made. Friends of Llebknecht In Berne tell me his health is hopelessly Impaired nnd that It seems extremely Improbable he will survlvo his sentence. I can well believe. It. I.uden dorff and his willing tools, the military Judges, know this also, nnd tho knowledge that they can rid themselves so eafeily of their adversaries without pronouncing too many sensational death sentences fills them with secret glee. Sometimes the German papers publish ac counts of trials by court-martial In ihlch the prisoners are acquitted. This Is done In order to make the world believe tho mili tary Judges nre Just and Impartial. Tho Kaiser's Government naturally does not want the world to know about its Implacable reign of terror In Uermany. llut factH will out In spite of all the precautions taken by the Prussian censors. An Indiscreet question re cently put in the Reichstag by tho Socialist member, Doctor Herzfeld, to Count Hertllng reveals what the rpllltary authorities do with the nrisoners officially "acquitted" by tho Judges. These prisoners, though found ;not guilty," are not released as the law expressly requires. In. flagrant violation of the law they are kept In custody, taken under guard to the police headquarters of tho town and there, by order of tho general commanding tho district, placed under "preventive arrest." Preventive arrest or Imprisonment Is a Ocr mar war Invention wfllch permits the mili tary authorities to keep people they suspect of entertaining democratic opinions, or find Irksome in any way, in prison for an In definite period without trial. "Preventive-prisoners" are deprived of the benefit of coun sel and their relatives and friends aro not even allowed to know what has become of them. It Is the Bastllte and the "lettrcs do cachet" over again, with tho difference that the Bastille prisoners of tho French kings were well treated and plentifully fed, evci eighteenth century despotism making a dis tinction between political offenders and com mon criminals. There have been many stormy debates In the Reichstag during the war about this Infamous system ot pre ventive Imprisonment, needless to say with out any appreciable result. Doctor llerzfeld's revelation In the Reichs tag shows that of all the thousands of per sons of either sex arrested during the strikes not one has been released, even the pris oners whom tho Judges could not possibly convict being kept by the military authorities under preventive arrest. I am, therefore, thoroughly Inclined to believe a statement made the other day by a German exile here to the effect that there are more than 100,000 political prisoners of one kind or anbther in tho aerman prisons at the present day, THERE" is no limit to the vindictive cruelty of the Ocrman military dicta tors toward the miserable workers who at tempteUto throw off their yoke. Not con tent with all these arbitrary measures, they have hit upon a new and truly diabolical scheme to punish the strikers In their chil dren. For the last two years the municipal authorities of many German towns have been sending the starving children of the poorer classes to the country for a few weeks In summer to board with farmers and peasants where food and particularly milk Is not so scarce as In the great .cities. Lately the Government, at the instigation of the mili tary authorities, has given orders Xo exclude children of parents who took part in the strikes from this privilege of spending a couple ot weeks In the country to recover from the effects ot the terrible food less winter months. This seems scarcely credible, but It Is true nevertheless. After all this one no longer wonders that the strike move ment In Germany fallpd, and the only sur prising thing Is that the workers ever plucked up courage to strike At all. And jei-I, learn from trustworthy sources Jftat an active propaganda. Is strain being Carried on lp tk muiflon factories In view! 0 another and rn0rMM)eral strike, j(evoujyonary ismpniu i r atm flor ncuiur '? " " wo BEHIND THE LINES ' Si W'i of tho military authorities nmon'g tho workers. s A proclamation Issued by tho ofllclal lead ers of tho German trade unions, thoso will ing Instruments of tho Kaiser, warning tho working classes not to heed tho "evil coun sels" given them by "enemy agents." proves that great agitation still prevails. Yes, and money Is being collected for the wives and children of tho sailors who mutinied nt Kiel nnd WUhelmshavcn and were sentenced to long terms of penal servitude and In somo cases to death, For theso unfortunato women also have, on account of their hus bands' conduct, been deprived by the Gov ernment of tho paltry financial aid formerly granted them and mercilessly left to starve. But tyranny ever breeds revolt, nnd tho moro absolute It Is the more dangerously It fans the Etnoldcrlng spirit of anarchy Into flame. THE real administrators of Germany today aro the generals commanding tho' military districts of the empire, who tako thelrJorders from Ludendorff. and not thelvll provincial authorities subordinate to the Chancellor. Ludendorff, not Hertllng, rules absolute In Germany. Militarism has never been moro triumphantly despotic than after Its brutal victory over Russian anarchy. Tho military authorities do absolutely as they llko In Ger many, not hesitating to break the law when It suits their -convenience. Recently they turned the school children and their teachers out of two schoolhouses In Spandau, and transformed tiie'so into barracks for women munition workers, who are ot late In many cases no longer permitted to live In their homes, but nro kept In downright slavery under continual military supervision. Tho town council of Spandau protested, but quite In vain, nnd Chancellor von Hertllng witsi forced to admit In tho Reichstag that he could do nothing ns he had no power over the military authorities. The incredible Increase of crime In tho great cltleB, and especially In Berlin, where, according to statistics published by the In surance, companies, 300 burglaries aro oc curring daily, lias been used by General von Kcssel, the commander of tho Brandenburg district, ns a pretext to re-enforce the city pollco by military patrols. Soldiers with fixed bayonets now patrol the streets of tho capital, excellently symbolizing the universal domination of militarism In Germany. Theso patrols use their firearms indiscriminately, and several women and children havo already been "accidentally" shot by them, giving rise to more "questions" by the Socialists in tho Reichstag which Herr von Hertllng has not yet deigned to answer, THERE Is a satirical poem of Heine's in which he speaks of the day when tho rulers of Germany will realize their political Ideals by turning the whole country Into "ono vast penitentiary." This prophetic vision of the German poet, who was a republican and a Jew, and whom the Kaiser has always detested accordingly, has como true during the war, Germany Is today ono great "Zuchthaus." where the entire population Is so to say, undergoing "preventive imprison-' ment." Why do the Germans stand this preposterous military 'tyranny which would have goaded nny other nation Into revolt long ago? That Is tho first question I usually ask Teutons professing liberal opinions here In Switzerland where they are' out of Ludendorff's reach, The answer Is nlways tho same. The Girman people are cowed by tho enormous prestlgq of tho Kaiser's generals. The ' efficiency of the Prussian military machine Btuns them Into submission. And the Germans have never been a free 'people; fear and reverence for their uniformed masters are deeply rooted in their hearts. IT IS the business of America and the Allies to shatter this disastrous reputa tion for efficiency on which the despotic power of the Prussian military caste rests. Only when Hlndenburg and Ludendorff are squarely defeate on the field of battle will the convict population of the aerman 'penl tenltary break out of their cells-and peace and liberty once more reign In Europe. Heywood Broun tells Ilenrlette's Souvenir thi story of a French of Pershing waitress who served ' the table when Mar shal Joffre and General Pershing sat down to dinner together In France. Henrlette was distressed because Pershing didn't eat any pf the pickled snails. But after tho great svent Henrlette boukht a ,new locket and hug It round her neck. She was asked what .fc bad In, It and. opening It, displayed a little strip of gilt japer. it was the band of tk !" Osneral PersalncJiad smoked. OUR OWN NURSERY RHYMES The Old Trousers W1 HEN Daddy comes home frjim the office Then Sarah and Peter and John Go hunt out the old pair of trousers And beg him to hurry them on! n Those ancient remarkable garments Aro hung on tho hall cupboard door; Their uso Is not ended, ns they are Intended For romps on tho nursery floor. Tho raggy old trousers, the baggy old trousers, That romp on the nursery floor. , TfHEN Daddy lies down he's cnormoui I " Ho Is such a mountainous man! Wc bustle and hustle and tussle And climb to the top if we can. But thenho rears up like a grizzly, And tumbles us. off with a roar, And so for below him we hardly would know him, Down thero on the nursery floor, If It weren't for the trousers, the Jolly old trousers. That romp on tho nursery floor. D AD thinks that those trousers descendtd W From somo very old patriarch; Ho says they were carefully mended For Nqah to wear on the nrk; But though they aro shabby and dusty We lovo them and know what they're for; 4j And Mother will spare them while Daddy tj ean wear them For games on the nursery floor The old fraying trousers, the old playing trousers, That romp on the nursery floor! CHRISTOPHER MORLEY. & TODAY'S USELESS QUESTION Why do' most of us wish to be called "old man" nt twenty and, at fifty, to be hailed as "old boy?" ' ".Vot vounir and beu- ror tlful women alone, but . Hliame women of all 8J i inarched eight abreast for tho cause of Liberty." So speaks on w, gallant reporter of Philadelphia's parade on,, Saturday. The movie people el When Texas Went Iry Washington are 117 Ing to get, a fifteen ., ! Minted. Tbi! miniiMx fnr u-hlli n flflPOtl-Cent COln WOUldC havo se-p-ed In Houston, says the' 'IUS,0J3 l'Odt 01 April io, maae u I"1"""" , ti somewhat hilarious exit last night at wm o'clock. What Do You Know? QUIZ 1. Where U Rhelms? . Who Is Johni rurror Jtltehel? 3. What U meemt hr (he Mpresslen, "the enn, do no wront"? a in... iu tum. iuii utf-Mt rtt linden. 5. What Is the derivation of 'rosfsdmUe"f 0. Which Is the rlnetree State? 1, Who founded Pennsylvania? R Wlmft la thi. T.KAMAnf 0. What Is the erUIn and mf.'lnln' "' ''" "a pression "iiimenny cais i 10. Identify "the Maid of Orleans." Answers to Yesterday's Qulx 1. I.'Alrlon (The-Earletll ""'VJSh. IclVi,'? wn cf the nrt Napoleon and !" '"lE lw.rn Kln or Koni ami "?,.,:";: itS Uelehstadt br tho Co,n"TMJ9j,A"''n J ino iuii o " .-iiHM-"- -- - . .i I. The MlHklMlunt Is known "the rnte si j Waters." , ,.i m Willi... r..ll Vtrvitnt trretA HTIlSnatO?!. t. Kvotutloiu (ho theory of M'oT1,wh1l'b J,'," the descent of inun as from tho Jj?J ",' , UiaiN anil, in uriirru, ? r, 'L. tnrmt, S enlon to le hUMr orranld tn . . 3 fl, UnmbuK N i hle( lrt and ewmlM.i 6. Abroad. atamlnrd fniH tree ! mnt V" J iio- ; .mall i. nrifr1ioad. In tho ml II U famlvo Mllflr (kB? tUk.USti.l roninisntflns tile extremity mltr tf kl nearest ininmu, ... Ua 8. Tfc Uttrs of W4rl f4 H ,S 8. Viscount Mllner ts tt. ptw Wiyen rwo .- ot HfUjft Wr. , j kW W, tout, wsuw u w receow r- - noiii" ,w,v."..r;i-"- .iijrr rm. in ins. ''A.P",rV3 fn ttrt i fal -sited tree, dlstlnsuUbM fro" trees Knitted on dwarl rooie. J -"