maintains, Judge Holt and Mr. Roosevelt and the London Chronicle are all wrong. We did indeed sign the Hague conventions; but in 1899 and again in 1907 we signed with this explicit reservation:

"Nothing contained in this convention shall be so construed as to require the United States of America to depart from its traditional policy of not intruding upon, interfering with or entangling itself in the political questions or policy or international administration of any foreign State; nor shall anything contained in the said convention be construed to imply a relinquishment by the United States of its traditional attitude toward purely American questions."

In view of this reservation, the Sun thinks, we cannot by any stretch of the imagination be held as a responsible guarantor of the neutrality of Belgium. The Springfield Republican calls attention to another clause in the Hague conventions, in which it is stated that they are not to apply "except between contracting powers and then only if all the belligerents are parties to the convention." By reason of this, "scarcely one of the Hague declarations is operative in this war."

STILL

T'he Invasion of Belgium a Crime Against the United States. TILL another point of view is taken by Professor Kirchwey, of Columbia University. The sanctity of neutral soil, he says, does not rest on the Hague conventions. It goes further back. There is no principle in international law or international morality better settled than that is. When Belgium was invaded, a grave crime was committed against the United States. as well, and we, as the greatest of the neutral powers, should have uttered our protest. And not only then:

"It was the duty of the United States to maintain the integrity of the principles of international law by filing a prompt and firm protest, first against the rashness of the nations involved in plunging into war without first allow

ing time for the points at issue to be fairly considered; second, against the violation of the neutrality of Belgium; third, against the criminal offense of dropping bombs into unfortified towns, or without first giving the inhabitants warning; and, fourth, in placing contact mines in waters traversed by neutral shipping."

Professor Kirchwey says it was our duty to protest. He does not say what further we should have done if the protest was not heeded. The Louisville Evening Post thinks that, inasmuch as we were not a party to the treaty guaranteeing Belgium's neutrality, "to intimate that we are required to exact of Germany respect for the neutrality of Belgium, is the wildest and most dangerous proposition advanced in the discussion of international questions during the past six months." Even if it were otherwise, it says, before we could have taken any action it would have been necessary to organize a judicial tribunal to ascertain the facts, ex

amine witnesses and scrutinize all the records. The N. Y. Evening Post takes the same stand. It quotes. from the London correspondent of the Chicago News the following statement: "Britons, Frenchmen, Russians, and Italians blame America for ignoring the invasion of Belgium and the violations of the conventions. of The Hague, and then springing into the international arena with a protest relating exclusively to matters of trade." In answer to this and much more of the same sort from other sources, the Evening Post answers by calling attention to the absence of any clearly-defined international law on which to base the protests called for in the case of Belgium. We have solid ground under our feet in the protest about our shipping. The law is clear and admitted to be so by England. All the nations at war are charged with violations of international law; but the final reckoning must be made by an "international tribunal or at least by a group of nations. It cannot be anticipated by a single nation."

little attention has been given hitherto by the military experts to one fundamental difference between the situation in the eastern theater of war and that in the west. With this as a premise, Italian military experts, elucidating the events of the past six weeks in such dailies as the Tribuna, the Giornale d'Italia and the Corriere della Sera, invite us to note that the deadlock of the armies in the west seems to have been followed by a deadlock of the armies in the east. At any rate, the deadlock exists as between military Germany and military Russia. Now a military deadlock in the west, upon the basis of the line in Flanders and northern France, is a check to Germany. A deadlock along the Polish front is, on the other hand, a triumph for Germany. This is explained by the difference between the objectives of the Berlin general staff east and west respectively. Germany wanted to crush France. She seeks only to hold off Russia, not to crush her. Is Germany holding off Russia? The events of the month indicate to many Italian dailies-and no press in Europe follows the war more closely from this standpoint-that Russia is held. The allies rejoice in the fact that Warsaw was not captured after the great German drive. The point is less relevant to the Italians. If the Germans can hold up Russia on the east without Warsaw, their strategical aim is achieved. Warsaw, moreover, may fall yet.

Germany's Successes on Her Eastern Front.

PARTISANS may deny that Germany has achieved successes on her eastern front of late, says the military expert of the Tribuna (Rome), but she seems to him to have been on the whole fortunate there. These successes are genuine. They are not decisive. Everything depended for Germany upon action before the arrival of reinforcements for the Russians. The influence of the Polish situation upon the destiny of the war being vital, it is well, our expert suggests, to take a comprehensive view of developments as a whole. The

77

Polish campaign has had so far various phases, triumph and defeat being the lot of Russians and Germans alike. At the opening of hostilities, the Russians abandoned Poland beyond the Vistula to effect a concentration of their forces east of Warsaw. They had no choice, for a concentration in the Polish "salient," threatened from the north through East-Prussia and from the south through Galicia, invited disaster. Germans and Austrians profited by this situation to invade Polish territory at once. The Austro-Hungarians receiving a check, the Germans, content hitherto with a perfunctory invasion, grew energetic. A grand offensive began from East-Prussia to menace the Russian forces in Poland. This movement failed in its turn.

Key to the Battles in the Eastern Theater.

RAILROADS throughout Germany being built mainly from the strategical standpoint, the Kaiser's forces could renew the foiled offensive against Russia. The Grand Duke Nicholas has no such facilities for concentration. This point should never be forgotten, says the expert of the Tribuna.

"The war, in the great eastern theater extending from the Baltic to the Carpathians, has become one vast offensive and defensive flux, advances and retreats on one side and on the other. We had a first offensive AustroGerman tide as far back as October, which flowed into the Vistula and ended in a complete and-hasty retreat. This was followed by a great offensive tide of Russians with

THE HUNDRED-YARD DASH Another of the diversions of the German soldier when he isn't digging or dodging French shrapnel. Officers encourage this sort of It keeps the men in good mental as well as physical condition.

trenches

thing.

ROBERT CARTER

GERMAN GUARD: "If he keeps growing I shall starve to death!" -Carter in N. Y. Evening Sun

their main army, which arrived in force on the whole frontier of the enemy. Then came the eruption of von Hindenburg, driving the Russians again towards the Vistula. This time—it is a vital point-there was no rapid and equal inovement like that of a wave receding. The Russian retreat has been of the slowest, their defense has been varied by an offensive, and the whole vast engagement has been marked by an endless series of violent combats. The losses on both sides must have been immense. One's present impression, based upon scant but not inadequate details, is that the Austro-German offensive has had, on the whole, greater vigor and more results than characterized it hitherto. This is very far from saying that a decisive result has been achieved. We see simply, as the communication of the German general staff says, a failure of the Russian offensive as far as regards an invasion of Silesia and the efficient investment of Cracow, with all their consequences. To this extent the satisfaction of the Germans is justified.”

How the Deadlock in the East May End.

GERMANY'S plan on her eastern front is based

upon her capacity to check if not destroy each new Russian army as it comes up; but the Italian experts think the growing pressure upon the western front will prove too much for Emperor William. He must find another strategical conception and its nature is a theme of endless conjecture to the experts. In the language of the high military authority who discusses the theme in the London Post, the fundamental idea of the German plans for the war has been the defeat of the allied armies in France. The operations against Russia are an interruption, and "rather a disconcerting interruption," of the principal scheme. Germany expects no positive gain from the defeat of Russia. She would, no doubt, be glad to cripple Russia's reviving power, but she desires no conquests in this direction nor is she influenced by any special animosity. In any case, a campaign against Russia with a view to decisive results would be practically interminable, besides being fraught with danger, owing to the vast extent of the Czar's empire and its resources and the remoteness of any vulnerable points. It is an undertaking which could be postponed provided the Germans and Austrians could be made safe.

"On the other hand, the situation in the western theater of war brooks no delay. There is the risk of the coveted conquest in Belgium slipping away and of the commanding position in northern France being lost, and with it a

To hear them tell it, all the belligerents are carrying on a holy war.-Southern Lumberman.

valuable asset wherewith to bargain, if by any means the Allies could be brought to consider terms of peace. The strength of the Allies is augmenting, while that of Germany is being wasted in the fruitless fighting in Poland. At the present time, just as much as in August last, the ultimate success of the German schemes requires a successful offensive campaign in France and a successful defensive in the East. If the Allies were decisively defeated in France, Russia could be dealt with at leisure; the converse would not be practicable.

"Hence, ever since the success of the Russian arms at the beginning of September menaced the eastern frontier, the Germans have been endeavoring to force the Russians back to a line which might be held while the campaign in France was being fought to a finish."

Present Strategical Situation Between Germany and Russia.

BRITISH experts admit that von Hindenburg has,

temporarily, at least, saved Silesia, has relieved Cracow from pressure, and, by compelling the Russians to retire, has averted the "day of reckoning." These words are almost exactly those of the military expert of the London Times. The Grand Duke Nicholas should, however, enjoy a numerical superiority over his enemies in the eastern theater of between a million and a million and a half of men. For this reason the English authority can not believe that von Hindenburg's successes will be lasting. Furthermore:

"We cannot, it is true, foretell the still deferred result of the bitter contest between the main armies in Poland, but, however disappointing to all of us must be the arrest of the Russian advance, we can well understand that the Grand Duke acted prudently in holding his armies together and in not obstinately pursuing the advance on Cracow when his flanks were so seriously menaced. The idea that the advance against Cracow ought to have proceeded, no matter what happened in North Poland or Galicia, was one which the hard logic of facts dispelled, and it is greatly to the Russian Commander's credit that he recognized the fact and acted upon it. The general circumstances of the campaign require that the Russian main armies shall not be beaten, or the Russian forces disjointed. So long as this object is achieved it matters little whether Silesia is attacked sooner or later. Time fights on our side. Each day of battle wears out the enemy more than it wears out Russia, and even if the Grand Duke were compelled to fall back to the Vistula or the Bug we should not, on that account, alter our opinion that the supremacy of Russia in the eastern theater is inevitable."

Those German air-bombs must be very powerful when even an English fog is unable to stop them.-Louisville Evening Post.

To him it seemed that both the Austrian and the German armies had done their best to rid Hungary of the presence of her Russian invader. Nevertheless the words of Count Tisza made so profound an impression upon the imperial mind that the German campaign in the East was stimulated prodigiously. Such is the explanation in the western European press of the events of the past six weeks in Europe. Germany arranged to hold her line in the west in order to effect a heavier concentration against the Russians. Any other course might have resulted in such a spread of the independence propa

Difficulty of Getting News From Eastern Europe.

HUNGARY is at this moment so completely swayed by the military factor that nothing precise regarding the controversy between Budapest and Vienna can be learned in Paris or London. The inspired Hirlap (Budapest) and Az Est (Budapest) are alleged to be censored so strictly as to render their optimistic comment on the military situation too fanciful. Count Tisza is in reality suppressing all expression of the feeling for an independent Hungary. These papers did not even report the Count's sensational words when he told the deputies that an invasion of Hungary was a matter vitally concerning the peoples and armies of Germany and Austria as well as the Magyars. In case the importance of the event was not realized in either Berlin or Vienna, the invasion, the Count added, would

79

full force of his words, explains a journalist writing from Hungary to the London Post. The Vienna Neue Freie Presse does not think the Count said the thing put into his mouth, but the inspired organs of Austrian opinion, including the Zeit, commented upon it bitterly. They accused Count Tisza of disloyalty. Viennese journalists in the press gallery could scarcely believe their ears, according to another account. They could not understand how Tisza, the zealous champion of the dual system in the Hapsburg monarchy, brought himself to the use of such inflammatory language. They forgot, the London Post says, that Tisza is first of all a Hungarian and therefore loyal to the Hapsburg monarchy only while that sentiment does not prejudice the national interests of Hungary. Next day, the story runs, he was summoned to Vienna, where he saw Francis Joseph, the aged monarch expressing his displeasure but refusing the Count's resignation.

Hungary in a Mood to Part From Austria.

APPLAUSE like that which greeted Tisza's allusion

to the possibility of his country's complete independence never made a roof rattle so much in Budapest, thinks a correspondent of the Matin. This is a French daily, and therefore prone to make much of any little difference between Vienna and Budapest, says the Vossische (Berlin). Members of the opposition in Hungary-one of whom fired a revolver at Tisza a few years ago-cheered ten minutes. The enthusiasm was much greater than that which greeted the declaration of A round robin is said to have been signed by all the opposition members of the national committee, adds the London Post, including Count Apponyi, Count Andrassy, Count Karolyi and Count Battyány, in which they call upon the Magyars to be ready to defend the independent frontiers of the kingdom in the event of the authorities "in whose hands we placed our forces" not complying with the wishes of their supreme ruler -the Hungarian nation. Tisza did not go the length of

signing this round robin himself, but he agreed to have it placarded all over the country. The military forces, under German commanders, are said to be tearing these manifestoes down. Energy of an unprecedented kind has, ever since the manifestation of the spirit of Hungarian revolt, been exercized in driving the Russians out of the Carpathians. The effect of that effort results in two sets of reports of events in the theater of operations. The Vienna Neue Freie Presse reports one series of victories for Austro-German arms after another. The Petrograd Novoye Vremya has the forces of Germany and Austria flying in rout.

Hungarian Suspicion of German Influence. ERMAN counsels in the affairs of the Dual monarchy inspire resentment in both Budapest and Vienna, if the Zeit of the latter city interprets national sentiment correctly. The Hungarians in particular are aroused by concessions promised to the Roumanians. The net result of the policy in force in Berlin and Vienna, as the Hirlap fears, is a sacrifice of Hungarian nationality. A much better feeling has been created within the past few weeks by the modification of the Berlin campaign in deference to Austro-Hungarian susceptibilities. There is, too, the Berlin Vossische thinks, a tendency in the press of the Allies to magnify every discussion between the Germans and their associates