The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1917-09-01

out Of Moldavia within three weeks,
and last Monday the Germans began
an offensive in the Riga region that
forced the Slavs back toward that city.
At the south end of the line the ROu-
manians still are making valiant efforts
to hold back the invaders. There is
no longer any doubt of the bravery Of.
the Russians or of their desire to keep
on fighting the common enemy Of the
world, but it seems that they cannot by
themselves surmount the great eco
, nOmic obstacles that confront them.
The governmental troubles of Rus
STA also are approaching crisis. The
extraordinary national council being
about to meet in Moscow, the constitu-
tional Democrats discontinued bust
ness men and dismissed generals, gath
cred there ready to demand radical
changes. On the other side stand the
cabinet and the Socialist left. In pre-
liminary discussions Prince TrOu-
betskoi, Generals Alexieff and Brus-
siloff and others attacked the cabinet,
excepting only Kerensky, and declared
the government had fallen into the
hands of corrupt men of Petrograd,
who think only of their own inter-
ests The Socialist orders that de-
stroyed discipline in the army We're
bitterly criticized.
AS had been foreseen, the pope's
peace proposals were received decently
by all the belligerent nations, but with
more than an undercurrent of skepti-
/ cism by the allies. No definite reply
/ to them has been made at this writing
1 by any government, but representative
speakers of the different parties in Ger
/ many all Endorsed in general the Vati-
! can plan, and it is believed Berlin may
go so far as to offer autonomy to AL
not in any degree satisfy France. Aus
| tria, too, as was expected, approves the
| proposals, but insists any settlement
must include the abandonment of
| Great Britain's naval bases at Gibral-
| tar, Malta and the Suez canal. Can
/ one imagine Great Britain willingly dis
mantling these guardian posts of the
| route to her immense domains in the
! Orient? The vociferous assertions of
! the German press that the popes pro-
posals were not inspired by Germany,
| and the limitations that they really
were due to British suggestions can
| only be considered as more "bunk" and
| serve to confirm the suspicion that the
| plan had it's inspiration in Teutonic
| sources.
German Poison Gas In America.
The poison gases emitted by the pro-
German press and all the other traitor
GUS agencies in America are not grow
ing noticeably less in amount of viru-
lence, but Uncle Sam is beginning to
apply the antidote with considerable
vigor. In many cities "soap box" or
atOrs are being gathered in by federal
agents and several more rabid papers
| have been denied the use of the mails.
/ The German-American press of the
large cities is still too clever to sub
| ject itself to that penalty, but If, 1t
keeps on its present course doubtless
! some means will be found to suppress
! it. Respectfully it must be said that a
disgracefully large proportion of the
| Germans in America-naturakZ or
not-is proving disloyal to the land of
! their adoption. This is shown by such
instances as the annual picnic of the
| Schwabenverein in Chicago, where for
several days the assembled Germans
occupied themselves in denouncing
Americas entry into the war, abusing
! the president, sneering at our armed
| forces and making fun of the draft and
the National army. The same thing
| is going on I'LL over the land, where
Teutons get together, but they are pre-
pairing to reap a harvest Of woe for
themselves, for the men Of the depart
ment of justice are cognizant of their
words and acts. 1t is comforting to
believe that the great mass of German
Americans are truly loyal, but thou
sands of the more ignorant are led into
| .disloyalty by the falsehoods of German
secret agents and by the utterances
of the La Follettes, the Reeds, the
Masons and the William Hale Thomp-
sons for whom all native-born Ameri-
cans blush.
Former Ambassador Gerard, Secre-
tary of Commerce Redfield, and other
| prominent men found opportunity last
week to denounce bitterly the coward
ly, treacherous proc Germans and push
luminous pacifists, who are doing all
they can to make the world unsafe for
democracy.