North Carolina Newspapers

THE ASHE AIL LE fITIZEN u5s THE WEATHER FAIR. rwT7rNr watct. atis BRING x RESULTS j y " v " . PRICE EiIVE"XJ2NTS VOL. XXXIH, NO. 159. ASHEVILLE, N. O, SATUKUAl MORNING, M AIKJff Si,1 1917. ' GERMAN RIGHT TO APPROACH MEXICO AND JAPAN UPHELD Zimmermann Contends He Had Every Right to Seek New Allies. INVESTIGATING SOURCE OF "LEAK Sent His Instructions by What He Considered Safe Route. - liONDOX, March 30. Reuters Amsterdam correspondent sends the following concerning the address ot Dr. Alfred Zl mmermann, minister of foreign affairs in the German relchstag with regard to Germany's attempt to embroil Mexico and Japan with the United States: "Hugo Haase, leader of the socialist minority in the relchstag, remarked that the German offer of an alliance With Mexico had aggravated the situation with the United States ana Dr. Zlmmermann, replying: "I wrote no letter to General Carranza. I was not so naive. I merely addressed, by a note that ap peared to me to be a safe one, in structions to our representative in Mexico. It Is being investigated how these Instructions fell Into tho hands of the American authorities. Proposed Alliance. "I' Instructed the minister in Mexico, In the event of war with the United States, to propose a CJerman alliance to Mexico, and simultaneous- V in KllfftrPKt t 1 1 ' 1 f T'J Tl'J n Inin tho .1. liance. I declared expressly that, de- j spite the submarine war, we hoped : America would maintain neutrality. , "My Instructions were to be carried out only after the United States de clared war and a state of war super vened. I believe the Instructions were , absolutely loyal as regards the Unit ed States. General carranza would ? P , 3 6 u T . '? ' f.f ! J 6 V . hd. 1ot pu - I , llshed the instructions, which came , into 1U hands In a way which was r . . . . ... : contrasts considerably with the be- JCQntlnued on Page Four.) VESSEL BELIEVED : Tu BE GERMAN RAIDER IS or Captain of American Steam er Believes Ship to Be the St. Theodore. ' HAD THREE BIG GUNS March $0. An armed vessel he- ' pieved to be the converted Gorman 1 J raider St. Thomas was sighted In mid-ocean three days ago by the American freight steamship Mon golia which to.day . arrived at an American port ... If It was not the St. Theodore, the .Mongolia's officers were certain the ! vessel was a German raider, both be ' cause of her actions and because her wireless operator talked in German. The Mongolia encountered the raider March 27, one thousand mlfes east of Sandy Huok,' the officers said. The raider approached within a half mile of the American freighter,, circled around her and then made away . without signalling, but her wireless was crackling out messages In German to some unknown re ceiver. The stranger, undoubtedly ' was a converted merchantman, had two masts and one funnel, was paint ed a war gray and armed with three big runs. She has a speed of about sixteen knots. The . Mongolia's of ficers took her for the St. Theodore, Which was captured by the German cruiser Moewe last December ln,u.) "During the night of March South American waters and fitted out 28-4t part of our naval forces, with armament. ( crUM a the barred sone off the - The St Theodore was reported In , south of England," says an official Copenhagen dispatches today to have i been sunk off Rio Janeiro after hav ing transferred to the Moewe the prisoners the St. Thomas had cap . tured from the British steamship .Governor afler sinking the latter ves sel. - The arrival of the Mongolia today marked the completion of the first round trip made by an American ves- . set since the Inauguration of the Ger- j man ruthless submarine warfare. tain Emery Rice and carries a crew of 141, of whom seventy-two are Americans. NOTICE TO NEWS-DEALERS! t Commencing tomorrow (Sunday, April 1), The Citizen goes to a strictly non-returnable basis. This applies to both city and out-of-town dealers. Out-of-town dealers who have not placed their orders for tomorrow's Sunday Citizen are ; : requested to wire in their order not later than 6 p. m. today. , . . THE CITIZEN COMPANY. ADMINISTRATIVE BRANCH OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT HAS DECIDED ITS POLICY Official Announcement Withheld but For mal Recognition of a State of War Is Expected to Follow Convening ot Con gress Germany Making War on U. S. WASHINGTOX. March 30. The administrative branch of the Ameri can government haa determined defi nitely upon a course of action to meet the hostility qf Germany- While offi cial announcement Is withheld pend ing the appearance of President W11 on before congress, formal recogni tion of the existence of a state of war is expected to follow soon after tho extra session begins. Is Writing Message The president, having decided on (he principal features of the address to be delivered to a joint session of the house and senate, Is putting the document in writing and today he had a flnaj discussion with his cabinet. The meeting lasted only an hour and a half but wltlj conclusion quickly mado known, time was found for at tention to Individual departmental matters. Later the president confer red briefly with Secretaries Bauer and aniels, heads of the war and navy departments. There is said to have been no dif ference of opinion in the cabinet on (he great question. The president's advisers as well as official Washing ton generally have long since accept ed it as a fact that war actually is being -waged against the United States. Germany Making War. Officials believe that Germany 4s making war on this nation because she has taken more than 240 Ameri can lives on the high seas, because she has destroyed American ships by the wholesale, because millions of dollars worth of damage has been done aa a result of German plots In i ,ne l-'nKed States, because she has attempted to set on foot a conspiracy with Mexico and Japan to dismemDer the renubllc and finally because of the belief that Germany triumphant j will constitute a future menace to ine peace of the world In general and of the United States tn particular. Just what part the United States ! will play Is a question the government wiii uiat in u. ijucowvh . has yet to determine. The subject haa been discussed generally within tne administration, but the broad poV1,y to be pursued will be developed defined by congress and urgent de fense steps completed After the president has delivered hta address, congress Is expected to takvJln'er.P,"H1ru, prompy the granting of a large credit to government and o provide for the raising of an army of perhaps one million men. Other measures auch as a censorship bUl, a spy bill, the regular army appropriation bill and emergency legislation for the army and navy, also will be submitted. All Possible Done. Aa summarised todajv everything that the government believes can be done without congressional action to arm against Germany either has been done or haa been planned. Every 4- VIM., BADLT DEFEATED. 4 CHIHUAHUA CITT, March f 30. iFrancisco Villa at the head i of a cavalry force of S.BoO men f made a determined attempt to- f day to capture Chihuahua City, but was driven back with the loss of BOO prisoners and 350 In killed and wounded. . 4 4- 4- -f -f -f -f -f -f -f CITIZENS TRAINING. ROANOKE. 'March 80. At the instigation of several patriotic .lead ing citizens, a movement begun sev eral days ago to train Roanoke's civilian male population in military tactics, has grown to unlooked-for proportions. Beginning with only a few mildly interested men, the com pany of civilians, daily training on Market square under the direction of local national guard officers, haa reached more than a ihundred. Inter est In the drills Is Increasing dally and local guardsmen predict the com pany will increase ' largely within a few weeks. CRUISED IS BARRED ZOXB. iMSTIKrUM via. Tendon Mar. sstatement received here from Ber lin. "Beyond the armed English steamer Mascotta which we en countered eight miles east of Lowestoft and sunk by artillery fire, neither the enemy fighting forces nor merchant shipping was sighted. Seven men of the Mascotte were made prisoner." WOMEN TO VOTE. Governor Graham today signed a bill which permits property holding worn- en to vote at town meetings. government department is "engaged In some work of preparednes. I,ensun taught by the experiences of Kurope are being utilijiei as far as possible. What dav the president will appear before congress to deliver his mo mentous message will not hp fixed until It is seen how long it will lake the house to organize. It is realized that there will be some opposition In congress but sum marries of public opinion collected by officials have convinced the admin istration that Hie nation will stand almost soli'dly behind any action 1he president may recommend and no doubt is felt about the result at the capltol. The pacifist element both Inside congress and outside will make It self heard before a decision is reach ed. Monday, delegations of opponents of war will come here to attempt to Influence congress. While the details of the conference between the president and Secretaries Baker and Daniels after the cabinet meeting were not made known, both of the cabinet members have before them many questions concerning 'he strengthening of the nation's de fenses. They include: The early graduation of the firwt class at West Point, the putting of the coast and geodetic survey, wllh Its fleet of ves sels, under "the navy department, transfer of supervision over priva'ely owned wireless plant from the com merce to the now department, col lection of lar?re numbers of privately owned boats suitable for submarine chasens. and purchase of supplies for the army and navy. Shifts Kxpr-ctcd. One of the few problems facing the government Is that of making certain that men and women do not go into the army or navy who are better fitted for Industrial work. Special ef forts are being made to keep skilled workers out of the military branches except when they are needed. Additional national gua(d units were called out today to participate In the work of protecting public prop erty in the United States. There Is understood to 'be, a strong probability that there, will be several important shifts of offices both in the; army and navy soon. Since the severance of relations' 4th.-lf many" erne ry thin g "PossTbtr' has been done toward getting Araer- j leans out of that country. With the last, four consuls safe on Swiss soil today, very few Americans remain under German control except the forty-seven Belgian relief workers who still have two weeks "news quar antlne" to fulfUl under their agree ment. A few other citizens remain In German despite full warning, but they are thought to be largely Ger man-Americans who remain by pref. erece. ESTIMATES UNO PUNS FOR RIVER AND HARBOR IRKS ARE SUBMITTED Report Specifies Many Im provements Now in Pro cess of Completion. SOME ARE COMPLETE WASHHNXyrON, March SO. Estl mates and plans for river and harbor works to provide adequate facilities for operations of the navy for de fense of the harbors on the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts were sent to the capltol today by Secretary Baker for submission to congress. . The re port, made under a requirement of the naval appropriation act of 1MI and embodying the conclusions or the general board of the navy and the Joint army and navy boards was pre pared by the chief engineers of the army. Many of the Improvements listed are In process and a few of them have been completed. The navy re port says the stations at Norfolk. New York, Puget Sound and Hunter's Point, San Francisco should have a channel to the sea forty feet deep at mean low water and those at Boston, Philadelphia, Ban Diego and Mare Island, channels thirty-five feet deep. The only connecting channel whose construction or Improvement the navy department considers necessary Is mai inrougn Men Gate and East river between New York hrhp .a Long Island Sound, where it says a depth of thirty-five feet should be provided as soon as practicable and an eventual demh of forty feet. Inland waterways to accomodate all classee of naval vessels, the re port says, should have these char acteristics: Controlling depth at least thirty-five feet forty feet If prac ticable: locks will be 1.009 feet long 110 feet wide and depth pf water over the sill of forty feet overhead clear ances and fixed bridges its feet to be at- mean high water if over tidal streams. For torpedo T-sssels there should be at least sixteen feet con- trolling depth; locks 115 feet long thirty-five feet wide and sixteen denth of water over the sill, and overhead rlearances of fixed bridges of lot feet The report makes this estimate for Norfolk: Thirty-five too$ depth com pleted and estimated cost of forty foot depth would be ll.M7.6S0. f 4 - IMOe or IMSC.OOt depending ot the width. Still FULLY EQUIPPED AERIAL COAST PA7R0L STAld$, HUGE AIR CRUISER AND ONE ' kkPLANE GUN OFFERED GOVERNMENT Rodman WannapiktrJhrough the Aero Club of America, Offers to Give This Equipment lo the United Slaleslames G. Gerard, Speaking At Dinner ot the Aem Club, Says That War I - lof Today NEW YORIv. Malr3&i-The fully equipped aerial coast aH!l station at Fort Washington, N.VsMher with an air cruser,, flttef rltb twt S00- horse power motors; tnd an airplane tune, were offered? the, government tonight through the), Aero Club of America, by Koaroin vvannamaxer. Announcement oC tie gift was made at a ainner, or me awj ciud, ai woica former Ambassaapr James w. Ger- s rd u nun i fit 4. tttik sneakers and which was attended?. many men ot Alan R, Hawley tesident of the club, announced thai the Collier trophy offered annuajr for the great est achievement in afatlon In Ameri ca had been awardld to Elmer A. Sperry and Lawrenei B. Sperry for the development offa drift Indica tor. He made publl, also the award of the Aero olub's jDiedal of merit which has been gives to Miss Ruth Law for establishing the American distance record across country; to Philip Carroll for hl patriotic work In training military arlators; to Floyd Smith for establishing American hydro altitude! reeorls; to Corporal A. D. Smith, U. 8. A., (or the American hydro duration reoprt; to Captain C. C. Culver, U. 8. AJ, or wireless ex perimentation and tc.james V. Mar tin for the Invention '(Of the aero-dynamic stabilizer. . Mr. Gerard in his Iddress declared that modern war is largely a matter of mechanics and munitions. The le gend of the embattles farmer Is re sponsible, he said, for much unpre paredness. jr What War If cans. "We hear even today," he said, "prattllngs about emlhttled farmers talcing their old muskets from over the chlmneyplece an 4 defeating the Invader. But nowadays the old flint lock means Zeppelins,; airplanes, cap tive observation balleans, steel hel mets,' gas and gas masks, machine guns, searchlights, sixtetn-lnch guns and elghteen-inch Howitzers, trench CTED OF ATLANTA William Pol Active in Street Car SI te, Will Be Sentenced Tod ATLANTA, Ga.. Mafch SO. Wil liam Pollard, labor ofenlzer, who active -In the stiet carmen's strike here, was conted of per jury In Superior courtitoday. Sen tence will be passed tdfcorrow. Tho penalty Is not less than three and not more than ten years lithe penlten tlaryV Pollard was chargedfyith perjury a result of his tesi tony in the case oi u E. ixnagen, ccntly con- vlcted in connection wl dynamiting of street cars here. Pollard came to . t last fall from Chattanooga, whei Ihe had been prominent In a carmei strike and street rail- assisted In organising way workers here. He been con on of the nected with the organ i) Amalgamated Associate of Electric and Street Railway 'orkers of America In various soutl and mid. die western cities. MUST RAS8 EXAMfATIONS. WASHINGTON, Mar 10. Post- master General Burlesol will make publio tomorrow an tzi dive order ued by President Wil provld- ing that after April 1. it, second and third class post ma before be-examtna- ing nominated must ttons prepared by tk ll service o amission. Kickihg Wis Dog Around . ....., f Is Question of Mechanics and mortars, ranee finders, telescopes, ar mo red automobiles, i tanks, miles of barbed wire, underground mining, rockets and " grenades and countless other instruments of war, the proper use of which can only be learned af ter years of hard application. All these modern means of war require great preparations. If we are In for war we ar in tor serious war. s i "I believe- that the. men of German blood who have Joined us will remain loyal to this country;, AWHI not thar wgsiffqgasjsjMh forty-eight be with us in the fight 7 Some of the finest blood In America comes lo us from the men of forty eight, or those who left Germany be cause they sought more freedom, more opportunity than they could ob tain In Europe. We must extend the helping hand to our German-Americans, who, affected as was their right In the beginning by a purely senti mental feeling toward the land of Germany and the German people, are now ready to climb on ' the band wagon. 'But if there are men whose desire It Is to abuse our hospitality to sow tne seeds or riot rebellion and trea son then I think we know where to festoon them. But these will be few. and help and tolerance must be our watchwords while the nation forms for war behind our president. I Every Peace Move Made. "We go In this war only after every move was made that could be made for peace. No one knows better than I do the masterful efforts ths presi dent made. His work in this connec tion will show like silver In the dark pages of the history of this dreadful war. The president and his cabinet have been doing a wonderful work to prepare but he always works, wheth er for peace or war, without the ac companiments of a brass band." Stephane Lausanne, editor-in-chief of the Paris Matin, and member of the French national committee, de clared France is fighting to restore in Europe "a spirit of liberty, of human- 11 M- OVER FORTY AMERICANS An American , Seaman Says They Are Held as. Prison ers of War in Germany. COPENHAGEN, March 10 (Via London.) More than forty Americans were among the prisoners taken to Germany by the German commerce raider Moewe,-according to Jack. Ben son, an American seaman wno nas ar rived her. The Americans, he says. are held as prisoners of war In Ger many. Benson, who for a time was a fel low prisoner of the men held in Ger many, says that nearly all of the forty men were horsemen aboard the horse transport Esmeraldas, which was sunk by the Moewe. The only exception whom Benson was able to mention was an American named Smith who was aboard the British armed mer chantman Brecknockshire. The German auxiliary cruiser Moewe. according to reports from Berlin, took Zti prisoners to Germany. Shipping men at Newport .News eari this week said that fifty-four Ameri can muleteers were aboard the steam er bsmeraldas. Fifty-nine American seamen taken to Germany by the prise ship Varrow dale were released by Germany March 10 and aow are on their way to the United States. THE VV KTHH1. WASHINGTON, March !. Fore east for North Carolina: Fair, wanner Saturday; 8'inday, rain cold r 1a central and west Munitions. lty and above all of respect for Inter national law. : ' "Even alone," he declared, "WO would continue to fight but we will welcome with a joyful heart all those who will fight with - us, not because they will help to the victory of France or to the victory of Kngland or to the victory of Russia, but because they will help to the victory of right, of justice ana oi 'civilisation." i . '- Letters of regret were received from Theodora Roosevelt ; 3etp,r,,,H,,;- and others. Geraldlne Farraf 'sang "Ths Utar Spangled Banner" during a standing toast "To the Commander-in-Chief of Our Army and Navy." ' GERMANS AT OinHTJAHtTA. El, PASO, Texas, March 0. Two Germans appeared at the Chihuahua City foreign (club Sunday morning as the guests ef the German residents of that city and were said by their hosts to have escaped from the Ger man raider Prlns Eltel Fried rich, In terned at Philadelphia, according to an American, who arrived tonight from Chihuahua City. The American said he saw the tw Germans. One of them was small In stature, of a decidedly blonde type and about tweiity-flve years old. The other, lie said, was about thirty-five yean old and heavily built DEFENSE RESTS. NWW YORK, March 10: The de fense rested today In the trail of six Germans charged with conspiring to blow up ships carrying supplies to ths entente allies with bombs that were manufactured on the steamship Frledrlch Der G rosso tied up at Ho boken since the outbreak of the war. The case will not go to the Jury until Monoay, nowever. SPEAUK AGAIN Nomination Is by Acclama tion and Every Effort Will Be Made to Save Time. WASHINGTON, March 10 Plans for prompt organisation of the house when .lt assembles Monday, so there may be no unnecessary delay In hear ing president Wilson's address, were msde by the democratic caucus today when 'champ Clark was nominated by acclamation for speaker. The ways and means committee was Instructed to report democratic committee selections directly to the houso. This latter provision will eliminate the usual delay of submit ting the selections of another caucus and was made In the Interest of sav. Ing time. Tonight the republican organise' tlon committee cf twenty-eeven had ! a long meeting, but failed to decide i upon any definite course to be recom ! mended to its party conference to- ; morrow. The only action tikua was : the appointment of a sub-committee 1 to propose to democratic leaders an ; agreement to pair for the speaker- i ship fight all absentees on account or sickness. I Neither side ,has any deAnite Infor- ! nfatton as to how many of Its mem br may be absent Mondsy. but i thre probably will be one or two of each. A pairing agreement would make the big parties even lu any event and virtually place the selec tion tn the hands of ths Ave lnda- fendeata. p. MORE VILUIGES: ARE CflPTOBEO BY BRITISH TROOPS German Retirement Because? of British Pressure Ad- . . mitted by 'Berlin; ' FRENCH RECAPTURE T4 SEVERAL, POSITIONS No Important Activity qn' Any Other of the .Main " Fronts. British troops in France have oc rupted three more villages In " the) Somme region; and In the .Cham pafqa the French have recaptured the po sitions taken' by the1 Oetmans ore March 25. ' . , , ' . A German retirement on both sldee of the Perone-Flns road because of strong British pressure Is announced by Berlin. Othr Ground Gained. Two of the villages captured by thsl British, Fins and 8orl-Le-Grand. are on this road, while the other, Ruyal court, Is three miles to the north and eight miles west of Bapau'mo. Field Marshal Halgs men, London says, ef ter hard fighting also have gained ground west of Sorel-Le-Orand in the' direction of Heudicourt and , toward the railroad, running south from Mar ooing. A German . attack against the . British positions sooth of iNeuvllle Bourjenval, between Ruyaleourt and Fins, is reported by ,London, to have been checked with loss.' j -r ',: -' Canadians In 'Action. . ' -l j . Canadian troops have been In action east , of Neuvllle St . Vaast Berlin say that four Attacks by a , Canadian force .were repulsed , with heavy loss, while London , Claims , the , German lines were entered and prisoners tak- -en after casualties were Inflicted ion . the defenders., i,? .". r;4 ui.m. French troops In tha , sector ) at Vrsgny-Margival, northeast tot Hols sons, Paris reports, made progress, f , West of Malsons de' Champagne, a French counter-attack resulted In the Germans being forced to .give up the positions gained on Wednesdays "The ALIENS SEEKING; U. & r CITIZENSHIP WILL BE "GIVEN CONSIDERATION- In Event of War Foreigners 1 Who Observe Law Will Not Be Molested. MANY GERMANS HERE WASHINGTON, March 89. Aliens seeking American citlsenshtp will bo given favored treatment If It becomes necessary to put restrictions on for eigners. The state department In formed the labor department today that tn such a contingency,, declara tions of intention to become citiaens will "be given due consideration." Tne government's attitude, although as yet not publicly expressed, Is un derstood, to be that If the United States Is forced Into war with the central powers no move will be made towards Internment of their nationals within the United States, even army and navy reservists, as long aa the for eigners observe the country's laws. Property rights, too, will be respected. Applications for cltlsenshlp from Germans have poured Into Washing ton since relations were broken with Germany. More than 100,000 .- had come In within the last year, but for the fast two months all records have been broken. . The census bureau estimates that there are in the United States now about 160,000 German cltlsens ever twenty-one years old. In 1910 there were In this country 8, 381.(11 persons of German stock, of whom 1,501,111 were born In Germany. There were 1,011,847 born In America of German parents and the remainder were born In the United States of parents one German and one American. Of the 2.501.11 persons bom In Germany 1,278.687, were males twenty-one years and older. Of these 888,007 were reported aa naturalised and facts as to the remainder were not ascertained. The labor department was notified by the state department today also. that Russians taking out citizenship papers should renounce all allegiance to the present government of, Rus sia" and not Emperor Nicholas. THE ASHEVILLE C11IZEN Circulation Yesterday Citv ....... 4,433 Suburban . Country . Net paid Berviee . . Unpaid . . 'Total . . . 4,153 . 1,689 .10,275 . 214 . 208 .10,697