Evening star., 1915-05-30

he an influx 81 eishty-nve utterly un-
trained ones Gao would. OF course, tn-
stantly destro' the original efficiency
OF TIE orsa4zation TIL they werc
Sixth MONTH ut the very lowest pos
slble estimatek snid the Secretary OF
War. And Will he six months OF
such work this country never did
before in its tory"ii
!
six monthTs with the north Atlantic
seaboard ami tated." said the Pres-
dent means & x months of bleeding TO
death"
Even wfthof. the mortal blow that
was struck az the country's commerce.
by the locking of its Atlantic and gulf
ports, this sefsrance OF New England
and the rnetrs politan district Of New
York did, indfsd. cause a huge, bleed
ing wound
OF the sew uty-fiye manufen&ur.no
cities of the ~ tied States whose manu-
factured pro&uct ranked highest In
value and plat ed the greatest part In
the industrial wealth OF tho country.
the invader possessed twenty-seven, or
more than one third.
Fifty-siN thousand manufacturing es-
adjustments were IN his control Those
of the New England states had pro
duced 30 per cent of the total wealth
of the country in manufactures. When
they were cut off the blow struck
every human being in the continent
who needed their products. and every
human being who depended directly or
indirectly on the income from their
purchases of raw material.
The United States had lost the source
or % per cent OF its wooden manufac-
lures In value. 4S per cent of the cot
ton manufactures, As per cent of the
bronze and brass products.
All the amounts involved were enor-
nous. The annual value of the raw
material used by the conquered terri
tory was beyond s2,000.0o0,o0O. The
s5.642. 900. .0O0's
The nation. thus MANNED stared
aghast at the value of the prize that
had been wrested from II for lack of
little insurance. Its individuals had
paid scrupulously each year for insur-
ance against fire and crime and had
scrutiniZed their policies with the ut
most care. But they had permitted
their chosen representatives in leeis-
latureS and Congress to do thev
chose about insuring against war TO
spend money as they would or not at
all ana to accept worthless policy
obtained at an eXtravagant price.
Now they faced loss that. for the time
at least. might well be called total. The
value of Boston and the city of New
York alone in taxable property was
$3.50. o00.00 Five cities of Connec-
ticut were worth s4S3.000, 600 Massa-
chusetts had twenty-five cities exclu-
sive of Boston whose value was s1,415.-
100000. Counting all New England with
New York and Boston, and leaving out
the New Jersey conquest, the enemy's
loot was s15.3s6. 100000. exclusive of
the public city. state and federal prop
erty that he had seized.sa
But what can he do with it?' the
people of the rest of the United States
began to ask each other presently.
For almost a month he did not show
his hand. For almost a month the sea
board from the end of Maine to New
Jersey remained sealed. Then. sudden
ly. he gave the United States his re-
ply to the question: What can he do
He opened the wires He did not send
out a word over them. The people OF
New England and New York did II.
They sent out a flood of dispatches that
were like great cry for help. 1t was
the invaders reply. through them. The
reply was Starvation"
I'VE need coal. We need iron and
steel! We need cotton!" cried the peo-
pie of New England. 1--WE have used
up all our raw materials. We cannot
work any longer unless you ship to
u.s."
I'VE must reopen our banks!" said
Boston and New York and the hun
dreds Of other cities. "We are para
lyzed without our exchanges and rela-
tons with the financial system of the
country"
I'VE need foodstuffs." said they all
The first quick decision of the coun-
try was one of wrathful refusal to fur
ntsh the supplies that the enemy
might fatten himself. But the impor-
tunities from the conquered places
grew They went 10 all the land. west
and north and south. They came at
the White House like a storm.
We are on the edge of panic. We
have almost three millions of factory
workers who will starve unless we can
instantly re-estabiish our industries
and our finances
1T is intolerable." said the PresI-
dent, his face white with anger. 1t is
simply a disguised form of blackmail.
He means to make us finance him: for.
of course. he Will levy contributions on
flow in
He has u.s." said the Secretary of
the Treasury. As we We're helpless
against his cannon, we are helpless
against the new weapon that he has
drawn-the starvation of our own peo-
pie. All the messages that we have
received prove that. He has shown
hands-that If we refuse to send them
money and foodstuffs and raw mate
rial they will have to blame us for the
consequences.
The President of the United States
arose. Gentlemen he said, they are
our own people. There IL nothing else
that We can do,
That is the story OF the invasion Of
America. There was nothing else that
could do.
How the land labored heart-breakinE-
ly to put an army into the field: how
the invader for eight long months held
the conquered land, and under his eff
cient mastery made its soil produce
prodigally. its manufactures pour
forth their wealth in redoubled meas
ure. how he laid tax after tax on tho
men whose necks We're under his foot;
how, toward the end, he gathered his
transports in all the harbors, and how
when the American army at last, 400
600 strong, moved toward the coast he
embarked all his men within seventy
tw hours and sailed away unscathed
these things were but inevitable con-
sequences
The United States of America never
knew how much wealth the conques-
territory in requisitions, in fines, in IL
ports and in war levies. Statisticians
figured for years afterward to discoy-
er from the wildly tangled accounts
how much he had extorted. They fig
ured and quarreled for generation
over the vast amounts that the United
States had lost by losing the markets
of the world. for when her ports were
opened she found that the markets
were gone.
Men said that from first to last the
invading army had taken sum not