Arizona republican., 1917-12-05
WAR DECLARATION
 MEANS LITTLE OR
 NJ REIMBURSEMENT
Republican A. p. Leased Wire1

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4.-Declara- tion of war with Austria Hungary in wolves very little readjustment of af- fairs between the United States and the dual monarchy, because the state of war which congress is about to de- clare exists, actually has been a fact for many months.
 There have been no such number of depredations on American lives and rights by Austrian military forces as has been the case with Germany, but Austria as the ally of Germany has gradually come into q position where the American government has realized that she must be included with Ger many as an enemy. This was appar ent even before the Teutonic invasion of Italy made the Austro- Italian front literally a part of the western front on which American forces are operat- ing. There has been no outstanding overt act" on the rart of Austria against the United States; there have been rather a series of acts short of being classed as cause for war They go back to the beginning of the Euro pean war
 Long before former Ambassador Dumba was sent home as an instigator of strikes in American manufacturing plants, the government had evidence that the Austrian diplomatic and consular service was l,sing used in this country for Germanys war-like pur- poser. Th. secret sis-.':ce' found the Austrian diplomatic cOCe and the of fices of Austrian consuls were being used for activities Germany could not carry on in the United states with her own officials III some cases where submarines sunk unr-sisting passenger liners with great loss -r life, it ap- peared that the U-boats themselves were Austrian, but there was little doubt that the officers and crew were Germans and that the submersibies were acting under German orders. Tho most fragrant cases of that sort was the destruction of the Italian liner Ancona in which responsibility never was definitely established
 The first attack on an American ship which attracted the attention of the nation was that upon the American tank steamer Petrolite. An Austrian submarine fired on the snip, killed a member of the crew and forcibly took eff supplies while the master was held as hostage on the submarine. Noth- ing but evasive diplomatic correspond-
 
 | steamer Schuylkill sunk last week, is believed to have been sent down by an Austrian submarine, but there has | been DO absolute proot.
 | German submarines in the Mediter- ranean have been flying the Austrian 'flag and Austrian submarines have been flying the German flag. Ap- parently commanders of both navies have been interchanging flags to avoid responsibility for lawless acts.
 Quite aside from the question of overt acts" however, the principal consideration of the government in de- ciding on war with Austria Hungary Is the nature of the alliance between Austria and Germany which made il anomalous to war with the latter and not with the former. Difficulty piled upon difficulty and much as he hoped to avoid it, the president was forced to realize that Austria was being uset by Germany in the United States q, an active enemy and that nothing les, than declaration of war would cleal the situation and leave the govern. ment perfectly free to ca>ry out tn, war with Germany in the most effec tive manner.
 The German spy system in tb, United States today is known to b, manned largely by subjects of Austria. Hungary, many of them members o the Industrial Workers of the World
 Continued on Page Nine)