franUmrfer
Grave Political Problem
in Ahhexation-WiBelMm
Kaiser's Chief Motive Was the Crushing of Enem yArmies,
Not tne L.onquest ot a.
paper Declares.
(Special Dispatch.)
, Berlin, Saturday".
The question of the retention' or the -surT
render of Belgium when peace Is arranged
is one upon whioh . German opinion is
divided more sharply than upon . any, other
involved in the "war aims" problem. It
is the pivot uporwhich revolves the em
bittered controversy between the annex
ationists and their opponents. For Ger
many, as distinguished from her Austrian
ally. it overshadows the same question in
relation to Poland, Courland and the other
occupied Russian territories.
But properly to understand the German
attitude one needs to realize that no-German
contemplates the possibility of the
German armies being driven out, of Bel
gium by force of arm?. Only as an act
of grace, or at least as an act of policy,
is the ultimate withdrawal from that land
discussed, even by the most vigorous ad
vocates of retirement. '?'
Among these is the liberal Frankfurter
Zeitung, which devotes a sober and close-
iv reasoned article of three columns to an4
examination of the supposed value of Bel
gium to the Germans as a base of 'future
military operations, mainly, -of course,
against England. ,; ' ; -
Question of Belgium's Value.
Is it," says the Journal, Militarily
considered verily so vital for Germany's
safety that our army and our fleet should
permanently retain a foothold h Belgium?
Can it be that, during the forty years of
Germany's gigantic growth, .in wealth, in
world power, in industry :and commerce,
this vital condition has been overlooked?.
All this wenton-without Belgium. The
present world war would equally, have
gone in our favor even haft wenotTat"the
beginning, conquered Belgium. Previous
to August 1, 1914, no rational German be
lieved the possession of this country was
a fundamental postulation of our future.
Even our strategists were divided as v to
whether, in a two-front war, our best
chance lay in the west or in the east.
Is everything now changed?
"Admitted that the march through Bel
gium was deemed to offer the only chance
by swiftly overwhelming French resist
ance, the chief ; motive! nevertheless, re
mained the crushing of the 'enemy armies,
not the conquest of a foreign State. - Tet
the present demand for; its retention gives
color to the charge 'of the Belgian cam
paign having all along been designed with
the Object of ultimate annexation.
With the development of the war the -"possession
of the Flanders coast grew-eyer
clearer in value.'tor Jh,e Germans and in
any future, war; it'js afactowhich.must.
inevitably ,jter
this 4alue iia its , limits. ; WiaV.arertIi033
limitf?-- ' . . v. : V" ... -The
article, proceeds, argue that never
again can the Germans expect .to find the
Franco-Belgian frontier, as .exposed as was
the case in 1914; from the sea to the corner
of Luxemburg will stretch a-girdle similar
to the Verdun-Belfort ' line, "which has
proved itself impenetrable!"- (A note
worthy admission).;- ''This would neutral
ize the chief advantage conferred in this
war by the holding of Belgium; any at-
Aircraft Are Big Factors
in Defeat of U-Boat Drive
Seaplanes Fight Submarines,'
Detect Mines and Rescue
Seamen. r
(Special Dispatch.)
Loudon, Saturday.
As every one knows, , aircraft are used
for many purposes in this war, that mostGerman seaplanes
familiar to the public being the direc
tion of artillery fire at the front," writes
a special correspondent in the Daily Tele
graph. "This is one of the ways in which
aircraft preserves human life, but far
more extensive in its consequences Is the
use of aircraft at sea to protect' us from
the submarine menace. Had it not been
for the co-operation of our aircraft the
anti-submarine campaign iwould have been
far less effective, the people - of Great
Britain and certain of her allies -would
have been faced ',with Btiffer . rations, and
the Central Powers would have been un
duly elated. : ' . "J
"Here are a few figures relating to the
work whichv naval, aircraft performed
during the month of September, 1917. The
total distance covered by the patrols was
170,000 miles, of wduch 90,000 miles was cov
ered by seaplanes and 80,000 miles by air
ships. On seven, occasions ships. which
were being "attacked by submarines sent
SOS signals, "Which brought seaplanes
to their assistance -in time to save , them
by compelling the submarines to dive.
Several hundreds of ships were convoyed.
Speed a Big Advantage.
"Unfortunately the S .number,, of ,sub
marines attacked and destroyed by our
aircraft cannot be published, but a. few
words may be said as to the; method of
attack. When a destroyer sights a sub
marine some five or six miles, away, he
goes full speed to the ' attack-at ; about
thirty miles an hour, so thaTt the-' sub-.
marine has ten minutes or so -in -wmcn to
dive beyond the reach of the destroyer's
depth charges. - .
"But when a" seaplane sights a sub
marine at the same distance he-flies to the
attack at anything from eighty -to one
hundred miles an hour, soi thafthe -sub
marine has only three or' four, minutes be
fore bombs begin ltd. fail I . around' hermit
must , not be assumed Jlowever, that v de-
oi-royers nave been superseded by the ea
Pjanes as the enemy 'of submarines. J On
the contrary, the two very often work to-
'-t-ner, and their, co-operation usually
spells disaster to the U-boat.
"The stories of these fights, which are
t-oreign State, News-
A"
tempted outflanking of the French7posiV
tion would be precluded; a 'break through'
would remain the only tactical resource
eyen as is now jthe case.. So much for the
offensive' campaign: the -contingency of
the 'defensive has also to- be taken into
account. . . ' -:
"Aa a radicair-mmtaryjsolutioji of the
problem, the annexation of Belgium, would
provide Germany;, with a deeper defensive
zone, to the unquestioned benefit of the
Khenish industrial di3trict.U On the other
hand, attack by the western Powera upon
a German Belgium would involve ho viola
tion of neutrality sueh as' the Germans had
to commit iii 1914. Therefore it would suf
fice for-the terms of peace to providethat
those Powers at least should find no 'neu
tral Belgium army or fortresses to aid
them. Granted this condition, it cannot
be contended that the; annexation or the
lasting" military 'occupation of 'Belgium
would add to the security of the German
western frontier. . - . :.
. ' . Effect on Holland.
"The effect of annexation upon Holland
must not be left, out of the reckoning.
Dutch neutrality, says the writer, was
at least until England imposed her stricter
economic control upon that State more
ValuabM -to Germany than would have
been, her active participation upon the
German side. Another admission to be
rioted. Exposure to attack through Hol
land would considerably have added to the
burden of German defence. Still worse
wouldbe the contingency of attack by a
Holland forced into alliance with Ihe
western Powers. The permanent German
occupation, of Belgium, it cannot be
ddubted, woulL not be a matter of in
difference to the Dutch. The excellent
political relations between Germany and
Holland would thereby be gravely im
perilleda disadvantage which would in
nowise be counterbalanced by Germany's
strategic preponderance and 'for Europe
would be created a new hotbed of future
conflict.' " ,
The writer of the article places no ex
aggerated estimate upon the naval value
to Germany of the Flanders' coast. "It is
argued," he said, "that our strategic po
sition in a future war indeed our entire
position as a world Power would funda
mentally be changed in our favor by the
possession of this coast." "But' he goes
on, "from Ostend and Zeebrugge a German
fleet could hope at most to control the
eastern outlet of the Qhannel, or, even
supposing the Anglo-French line of com
munication could be forced further west
than that of Calais-Dover, a Channel tun
nel would speedily create a new situation.
Even the present undoubted, value of the
Flemish bases' for the U-boat campaign
will be greatly discounted by the Ocean
going submarine cruisers of the near fu
ture, which will be able quite well to op
erate from. Wilhetmshaven. All that is
written about, "freedpm of the seas' and
rorid power as an argument for our re
tention of Flanders is but a tissue ' of
seemingly patriotic, but in . reality cheap
and. dangerous, catch phrases. With our
'freedfcm of economic expansion the pos
session of -Belgium lias nothing to do." '-,
y- ; I Political Problem. ? c
"The problem is, after all," the article
says, "of a political nature. We must not!
chase a phantom. Apart from the ques-:
tion whether our power would suffice to
hold Belgium in perpetuity, we have to
ask ourselves whether the political objec
tions, even the dangers, which would ac
crue from the suppression of the Belgian
people are not so grave and. so determin
ing as to outweigh the problematical mili
tary advantages. Are these' advantages
worth the prolongation of the war?"
It is not to be expected, of course, that
these arguments will weigh with the rabid
war party in Germany. At the same time
the views of so influential a Journal as
me jjranitiurxer zeitung can naraly re
main unheeded by the more moderate sec
tion of German public opinion. -
going on' daily between seaplanes and
submarines, would make a thrilling epic.
Here is one which happened recently. A
seaplane sighted a German submarine on
the surface, flew directly over her be
fore she had a chance to dive, and dropped
a bomb on her " tail which was seen to
make a large hole in the deck. Imme
diately afterwards the seaplane pilo saw
through the-'mist three more German sub
marine vin iine abreast," followed by three
German, destroyers, . and escorted by two
All six vessels rired
theirl anti-aircraft guns at our seaplane,
but the German seaplanes did not attack
because they could not get through the
barrage put up by the fire of their own
destroyers.
Calls British War Ships.
"Our seaplane turned, dropped anothe
bomb on the wounded submarine, saw her
sink amidst a pool of oil, in -which frag
ments of her floated, and then retired
gracefully from an unequal contest, at the
same time sending a" wireless message as
to where three of the. enemy's destroyers
were to be founcL - ..
This incessant '.and -ruthless warfare
against the TJ-boat by. naval aircraft has
been one of the main factors in deieatmg
Germany's- aims and in : saving the people
of this country from the starvation wnicn
Germany has tnea to jninct upon mem
But our seaplanes save life in other ways
As already, mentioned,: -their mere pres
ence has many-' times 'saved a merchant
ship when a submarine has been attacking
it. - Moreover; wnen tne tragedy nas act
ually occurred, and--the torpedo haa,founa
its mark, iit- is the seaplane which is the
first to see the smpwrecKea crews in ineirt
boats, to" send ' wireless messages xor as
sistance and to direct the; rescuers to xne
right spot- . .. y -
"It is the seaplane and tne otner a.ircran
which first sight the deadly mine, and so
help the mine sweepers in their task. In a
word, it isthe naval aircrait wnicn hob
been, and 'is, saving the lives not only of
those who traverse fhe seas but of every.
man woman and child In the Britlsn isies,
who otherwise would be threatened with
starvation. The strike at Coventry aireaay
has been a serious blowVto the Empire! a
repetition there or elsewhere would bej a
disaster, which cannot A be contemplated,
for the conseauences would be'.so far-
reaching that no one. could properly est!
mate' them. . . .. . . -
"Without, constant stream or new air
craft to replace the inevitable heavy wast
age in machines the struggle against;vthe
German submarines" will be prolonged,
food becorne diarer, and last, but not least,
the lives of our sailor3 exposed- and in
many cases needlessly' lost. This is a war
necessitating complete' co-operation of the
whole of the British Empire, and in; the
event of lack of aircraft the eyes of the
navywill grow dim." , - - - V
FRENCH
- .!r3&3a- v
j I
To persons who have beln
pictured above in No. l is a familiar one.' British troops are shown moving from the front or to the front
or from one front to another we are. not permitted to say which.
Great.enthusiasm-marked the arrival of British and: French troops in the northern towns, of Jtaly,
the soldiers of both nations being welcomed with' equal warmth by the Italians. The above photograph
(No. 2) shows a regiment of French soldiers marching through Brescia.
Women "Waacs" Study Ordnance Stores
. - : - , : !
Master Telegraphic Gbdes and
Win Distinctive Blue and
White Armlets.
(Special Dispatch.)
London, Saturday.
The following, on the work of British
women at the front, appeared in a recent
Issue of the Daily Telegraph from a cor
respondent "at the base in France":
Now every Signaller was a very fine
Waac,
And a very, fine Waac was she e-
Happy, happy shall we be.
There's none so fair as can compare
With the W.A.A.C.
j jjlhere Is a considerable amount ofevrnusl-
Aatt talent and an abounding sense or itrn
among the girls who are so cheerfully
fulfilling the tasks they have taken up
This you judge whenever iyou attend one
of their - parties. The lines quoted are
from some pafter vef ses, jonV the plan of
"Old King Cole," in which Unit Admin
istrators, Area Controllers and Captain!
of Army Signallers of a particular corps
came in for good humored banter by name
The whole corps always speaks of its
members as "Waacs," and unless a stand
ard dictionary of the future gravely ad
mits the word and. its origin to its columns
"there will be trouble for the students yet
to be of the war. Signallers, it mayf be
said, , are an important section of - this
new "arm, and they are especially proud
thathey are allowed to weaJr the . blue
and .white jarmlet that, under thejKing's
Regtrlatibns,:. is distinctive of the tele
graphid' jservice. ' x
?At.one base, through which messages of
Jsupreme impor tance are constantly pass
tag, the i women are prohounced to be doing
excellent "work. All have had . the . full
training of the post office and are experts
with the Wheatslone automatic system.
But some specialized training has been
necessary, v for certain codes have been
adoptedVand absolute accuracy is essential
when single letters or figures are invested
with weighty significance and the smallest
error might have the gravest results. Very
efficient, too, is the telephone service, em
ploying, as at home, a number .of highly
trained young women. Scotland it. -may
be' said has furnished a large proportion
of the girls carrying out these , responsi
bilities. . , . S.;."ih:'A:'-
.v " .,''A ' Tfew tVocabulary . -
: This question ; of vcodes.' and Tletters 'and
figures constitutes a bigger difficulty, than
the outsiders would imagine.:-When a staff
TRODPS IN STREETS OF
permitted to visit the. villages near
Officer escorted our party through a great
depot of the Ordnance Department it was
quickly realized that these women- have
to acquire what is literally a new vocabu
lary to them. ,Nqw, no shop in the world
contains the variety of items., and parts
and sections that thte arm of the service
brings together and issues. Its very mag
nitude in the earlier days even of the war
led to the adoption of a code of letters
and figures to denote its division, at least,
where thousands of requisitions pour in
daily.- Thanks to this method it became
possible to utilize the help of French
women long before the possibility of se
curing feminine assistance from home;
loomed into view. The intelligentFrench
girl might not possess a rudimentary ac
quaintance with our language, but she
could understand that all requisitions
bearing a certain letter and figure were
to be brought together in the rack pro
vided, and thus a first stage of sorting
could be effected.
By special favor a glimpse was accorded
of the stupendous labor by which the guns
are kept at their tireless work. If there is
a subject on which the average girl clerk
is less likely to be informed, than upon
an6ther it is surely that which touches the
technicalities and working parts of modern
artillery. Yet here are women who ina
very few weeks have learned enough to
know in which direction to send, forward
requisitions conjee rning 9.2 guns, or trench
American Steel
Going to Japan
Tokio, Saturday.
Despite criticism . by the press of Japan
regarding 1 restriction put upon' the export
of steel by the United States every steam
ship from the Pacific coast' to Japan Js
bringing several thousand tons of steel
and shipbuilding materials. The Japanese
Americaru Commercial Weekly says the
Sado Maru arrived at. Yokohama from
Seattle on October 25 with 3,250 . tons of
steel' plates worth i,000,000. : The Japan
Advertiser, commenting upon this and
other arrivals, says: v
'Despite much pessimistic opinion re
garding negotiations between Viscount
Tshil and the United States authorities all
incoming steamships arc bringing steel to
Japan. - Purser Masuda, of the Sado Maru,
states that America is- not so strict in re
gard to steeexports as is generally as
serted and; believed v to be the 'rcase iin
Japan." The United States will export steel
to Japan as usual; provided; such steel is
directly for war use. ; Mr&. Masuda asserts.
that 'all 'other 'Steamships trading with the
Pacific coast of America will bring sunt
larly large shipments of steel.' - - 1 ' j
the firms: line in France the scene
mortars, or' the mightiest of howitzers. It
was not always thus, and mistakes "even
now are? made that recall the favorite
story here of the young lady who, when
a demand came down for armored, hose,
gayly referred it to the authorities charged
witl the issue of clothing. But even in
a department which stores something like
23,000 separate items the mistakes have
now come to be few and far between.
Varieties of Wo.Mt.
Less exactine at the outset is the work
upon which they are entering at the" cloth
ing stores, where it is estimated that four
women-will take the place of every three
men formerly engaged there. It is a de
partment of fabulous figures; indeed, the
bare mention in- tons of the first supplies
of winter equipment brought over is
almost staggering. Greatcoats, .water
proofs, warm underwear, boots and ac
cessories fill stacks that would, seem in
exhaustible. Even buttons and the ribbons
that belong to the more generally
bestowed medals --make up a sufficiently
impfessive total, while, there are armlets,
indicative of specialized work the white,
green, and red of the offensive gas ser
vice is -one of them-that call for a whole
series of -wide shelves to contain tnem;
fkitchen equipment, every sort of brush that
enters into domestic use, enamel ware and
hardware, electrical plant, lamps, stoves.
baskets, heavy crockery, are but a rew ot
the things here ranged which it is in
tended to place in women's charge. It will
not be, perhaps, as easy a matter to issue
them, for there is a regulation system or
catalogue entry, and the exact meanings
of vouchers referring to, say, "sponge
bath," or "bath sponge," are not always
obvious until the peculiarities of defini
tion have been mastered.
Again, the women were to be seen in an
enormous depot concerned with the-repair
of all sorts of motor, vehicles. Its floor
space, suggests acres as the unit of meas
urement, and in happier times it. was . a
vast jute factory. Every known pattern
of motor engine is used by the, army, and
it follows, therefore, that the spare parts
and. the details employed involve a classi
fying and a sorting out of extraordinary
complexity. . But the system has been well
devised . and the mechanic engaged on a
London General Omnibus Company's
chassis will not find his work hindered, by
being given the -.various items as Used in
the Wolseleyf make. f.
Only a Beginning.
It is not desirable at this juncture to
quote the figures that would indicate the
extent to which .women have Replaced
men, releasing, them to go to the actual
front. ,What may be said, however, is
that this- advance guard of "Waacs" is
but 'a small r company beside: those for
whom provision is being made in the near
future. Repeatedly were camps "shown
that are coming to completion, in which
there I "will be .: accommodation f or.v 350 to
500 women, ahd occupied at present. by, a
bare" tenth of those numbers.: There is
one, amid men's-base camps, where cooks
and -waitresses are most urgently wanted.
mMmmmmmtmpi
Eriginfer Whose FirmJ Built
Machine Says 2,oOO:Mile Trip
was witnout Acciaent.:.-
j -r ; - c : v s i
'(Special Dtepatdi.xy.?v"vr
- - ' - XondonV Saturday.
For the first time the amazing, story of
a British battle, aeroplane's, flight to Con
stantinople from . London . and its sequel
in the bombardment of the German head
quarters and . the Turkish War Office
there was told recently.by Mr. Handley
Page and Mr Basil Johnson, whose firm,
tne Koils-Koyce, Ltd., . traiir tne engmes
that flew the 2,000 miles1 without a hitch.
Loading up at'Hendon. the machine.
which with1 spares and luggage was mon
than six tons in weight, proceeded to
Paris, . Lyons, and, tp avoid the Alps, con
tinued by way of Marseilles. -From Mar
seilles the journey was by way of Spezzia
to Pisa, Rome Naples, and Otranto, which
was the last point over rnenaiy country.
The next, and perhaps? the mostr-'difficult
stage of the journey, was oyer tne Aioan
ian Alps to Salonica, a trip of 250 miles
across mountains varying from 8.CCQ to
L0.O0O feet, wtth no suitable place for
landing in case of need. ; '
Squadron Commander Savory, who was
the chief pilot, told him, said Mr. Handley
Page, that they could see wild Bulgarian
horsemen below, who were running about
in everv direction, waiting for a chance
to kill them if they came down.
From Salonica the adventurous party
flew to their base, overhauled tne ma
chine, and prepared for a long distance
bombing expedition to Constantinople, a
distance of about 320 miles.
On their attacking trip they set forth
with sixteen bombs, and on arriving at
tne pea Ol maiiuuio. uiiuiucu u j- vym
2,000 feet to 1,600 feet, the Golden-Horn and
other points being clearly in view.
After a short . survey of the lights of
Constantinople, and in order to make sure
America's Food Control
Means German
British Writer Declares 'The
Dog Has Begun to Bite
the Pig."
: '
(Special Dispatch.)
London, Saturday.
How America's'ehtry; into the war has
hurt Germany is the subject of an inter
esting article in the Birmingham Post by
Edgar Wallace, author and military cor
respondent. It is now a case in Which
tn. v.Qn 'h(Snin to bite the pig," he
C3 ' - -
says. - , ,
"It i3 as well," Mr. Wallace writes, "to
separate the causes of' the -present Ger
man offensives from the circumstances
which have made them possible. We know
that the stagnation of the Russian front
allows the Germans to employ in the
west troops which, were the Russian
army an active factor in the war, could
not have been employed; we know that
the Italian has lost nearly 300,000 men
in the course of the fighting of the last
month; but neither of these facts ex
plains the German offensive plan. For
example, the push against the Isonzo
was, obviously; uninfluenced by Italian
losses because they had not occurred.
The push against Italy was, and is, part
of the great scheme which would, cer-
tainlv have been carried out even if
Russia had remained loyal to the Alii
ance.
"Reason. Is 'America.' w
"The reason is summed up in the word
America. I do not particularly refer to
the forces which America will put into
the field. The 'German General Staff, I
am certain, has no particular fear that
sufficient American troops will be put into
the field next year to secure a decision
against Germany. I doubt very much
whether the German is worrying at all
about what will happen in the field in
the summer of 1918. But he is tremendous
ly concerned over what will happen in
Germany between May 'and August of
that year unless he can break the fighting
spirit of the Entente during the forth
coming months of the winter.
"It is no secret that Germany. hai been
drawing large supplies of food and neces
sary raw material from America, via
neutral countries. America supplies these
articles, in the way of business, just as
she supplied Britain with material in the
way of business, ahd strictly "in the way
of business the neutral countries had been
passing on their imports to Germany. Our
respect for international law prevented our
interfering with trade as between neutral
and neutral, and the neutrals made money,
and the German got his butter and
bacon, his eggs and his coffee, his
cheese, and his cotton.
.Tolly War Might Have Gone Qn.
And so this' jolly waf might have gone
on whilst Germany's credit abroad held
only America came in! She declared war.
she called millions of men, she reorganized!
ner Industries to meet the demands of
war and then she sat down to take a
good look, at the neutrals. And they
seemed unnecessarily bloated. They did
their best , to engage " her sympathy. And
they had little bread' and potato riots
just to show there was no deception.
and - socialists made perfectly disloval
speeches.
But America understood. She had been
a neutral herself. So she sat down not to
invent an elaborate system for the ade
quate feeding of neutrals, because she was
pretty sure that neutrals would invent a
much more elaborate system for getting
more than their whack. America said
very simply, 'Feed yourselves, you big
stiffs T (if the picturesque vulgarity be
allowed). ;
"In the old nursery yrhyme, when -the
stick began to beat the dog, the dog be
gan to bite the pig. If the neutral has no
food to spare and cannot buy any in
America,', the German cannot buy food
from the neotraL In fact, the dog has, be
gun to bite the pig. The neutrals have no
right to complain. If my grocer will give
mft all the sugar I require and I sell it to
some less fortunate person at a profit, it
my lookout if the grocer ceases to supply
me and I am left sugarless, owing to1 my
generosity. ' . ; : .j :
Something Rotten In Germany.
"And thatis the position of the neutral
The position of Germanyis even clearer.
So many millions of tons' of foodstuffs
which came to- her. once in the dear dead
days are not coming any more. -She is that
much shorter of
feUM
w do not know for
one
of , their objectives, , they came- down to 800
reet and dropped a salvo of four bombs,
hopingito reach the ; Goeben. , which Was
anchored Just beneath them. Unfortu
nately they missed the vessel-but man
aged to hit one or ; two submarines - that
were lying alongside her. .-: ?; .? '
Turning on theif track, f they made
another attempt on the "Goeben,-and this
time; in. spite of the attentions of a num
ber, of Turkish and 'German ; anti-aircraft
guns managed to plant four bombs on the
battle ship. - ' " . . .- , : '
'Then they flew .up to a ship called th
General, which was the headquarters of ; j
the German staff, and dropped two bombs $ P'-:j
on her, to the great consternation of naval V ;
and- .military officers assembled 'in her tf '.i
saloons; . - s . v. ...j ; , :
r One more target, too temptingtovbe -!
missed, attracted thfe Intrnifl
missed, attracted the intrepid aviators. And i i 1
they next made their way to. that part of ; ;
alJfL? ?t
s situated ana dronned two more 4 of i
their bombs on the building. The Turkish '
official report on the latter incident quaint-
ijr lujimuiicu liiitt-Lcio uy any ins ; . A He tar T-
Office was not destroyed. :iV'V, I'-'k As,
;X? i ! i
After ;half an hour's ""bombing ; of Co-"
stantinople they turned round and started
back to their base, Flight Commander
McLellan relieving his chief in the steer
ing. They had not escaped without dam
age, but even after one engine had . been
put out of action they were "able 'to' get
away without serious damage from the
;"band accompaniment" of gtCns. ; below," ;
which had paid them a quite unconifort- y
able amount of attentiQn ' : 'V ..' ' .
On arriving back at the base no -fewer ' '
than twenty-six bullet hofes were found t
in the machine. The journey to .Constan-. j l
tinople and back (640 miles) occupied seven
hours. s' --i -if-.
Handley Page said Engineer Lieutenant
Rawlings, who was one of the party, ' re-jii
ported that they had no trouble at all with " :-s
the engines, although the water in the ra-: r)! ;i
diator boiled on a very hot day.- He thought " .
the flight, which constituted.a world t ' .
record for British aeroplanes, engines and ,
aviators, showed the great possibilltes 'Ctf'
aerial long distance bombing expeditions t -during
the war, and also that there were
great possibilities for mail and - freight y
carrying in times of peace.
; v7T ' :
certain the conditions of Germany's food IU
reserves. That there is something" rotten h
there we know from the curious attitude t '
of Bulgaria. ; '-);'': . ' f
"But if the German, with all the supplies V
he was sepuring from the neutral, was .
short in the spring of 1917, what will be-his r
position in the spring of 1918, when the new
American embargo becomes fully r opera- ;
tive? We think.it will be fairly bad. . The O
German crops were poor as were all the '':
world's. There i3.a big shortage-of meat 4" -and
slaughter cattle, and a dearth of fats' ' '.i
it is the fat .shortage and the oil shortage 1
which are bothering him most, apart from j,
coffee and rubber and it was , upon the 'j
neutral that he leaned for help in reducing;;
that shortage. ;- ' ' ' " - :'
"Nobody but a perfectly insane person :
or a statistician iwho will believe : any;!
thing imagines that the world , shortage
of food does not affect Germany!' It does t
affect her very seriously. It will affect!!'.;
her worse this year than it did-last. '
"If my theory is sound and well founded ,i
we should look to-th collapse of the war K
in June or July. I do not say If the- Ger- j
man does not break us in the field be i
tween now and August. He won't break
Us in the field or starve us in our homes. $
On -the other hand but perhaps sheer
optimism is out of place in this article.
Germany Appeals :
to Jews to Court A
Turks in! Palestine
Professor Delbrud? Declares England
May Hold Jerusalem Now, bit
Will Lose (iy XfterWar;-:
.i ':'.... - - ' ; .
'. -K-t' tf - - 1
(Special Dtaprtch.t..j;ifwvt K
Berlin; Satiif dar. :
Much the most Interesting German com- 1
ment that t yet has" appeared' ori Hie ; sit- '
uation In Palestine, whichnowhas been
marked ly tibe fallpf Jerusalemi3?coh-
tained in a statement' made lastweek by J
Professor Delbruck, of .the'Unlversitir j
Berlin, to a Jewish 'news a.gencirA ! :' '
Dealing especially 'with Mr;. . Balfour'a j
communication to Lord Rothschild,', Pro-
fessor Delbruck appealed to i the i Jews to i
cling fast to'feermany, in the "belief that i
Turkey, as. an ally pt Germany .""will after j
all emerge from the war. without" the loss :
of Palestine. Ac&fcrdmgtbtlae. Frankfur- ,
ter Zeitung Professor.' DeiSruck's state- '
mentis:, V rS, -
"The English,, TbjA :have mobilized ;
against us all the Stas cf; the world, ,
down to the smallest Central. American 1
Republics, are now trying to'wtoln'Zion-
ism also an ally against' Germany. Thv
do not promise an Independent state,' and
z.iouisui aoes not, inaeea, aim at that,1 but
they do promise an Independent religious
community in Palestine under their-protectorate.
v ' ; -v. .
"It cannot be denied that at tht first
glance such a promise has seductive at
tractions for the Jews. England is power
ful, guarantees political and economic
order, and is tolerant in religion.. Never
theless, "it would be very shortsighted ' if
the Zionists were consequently to declare
tnemseives tne allies of the Entente .On
may think of Zionism as one will; but it
is undeniable that it has its spiritual -root
in merman Judaism, and Mhat it vwould
wither away if its moral connection' with
Germany and with German Judaism were
to'be cut or even Interrupted. -t, -
Bttt, apart from this, the nolitical cI-
9ulatJonrwhichr builds upon English power
will prove deceptive. Although the Eng
lish may have taken Gaza and may be
moving on Jerusalem, and although : they
may even seize Jerusalem-itself, theT gen
eral result or tne -.war will most jCer
tainly take this conquest from them again,
even if the conclusion of peace were to
confirm English sovereignty in Egypt. It
is" quite, certain that the war will not give
the English" territorial gains In addition
Isflo Egypt; on the -contrary. If they keen
me nigypuan sovereignty -tney will have
to give compensation for it . - - ' ;
According, to .all human calculation
therefore the Turks : remain the lords of
Palestine. . Consequently, ,. anybody, who
desires to promote Zionism has every rea
son to put himself well with, the Turks,
end therefore also with.the Germans.. A
Zionism whlch to-day associates itself
with the enemies of Turkey is committing
suicide. - - v " - - H
Defeat
t -