Middletown transcript., 1917-05-19

VI lWO LlOIt iOSpltii SHIPS ny tHV NSi
mans. The news also came of the tor
pedoing Of the British steamship City
of Paris in the Mediterranean early
in April. The vessel carried 266 pas
sengers and large crew and only %
were saved.
American inventors by the thousand
are seeking means of combating the
submarine, and Chairman Saunders of
the naval consulting board made q
statement which, though deprecated by
navy officials, gave assurance that
some of the devices submitted would
solve the problem in the near future.
The war department announced on
Monday that nine regiments Of engi-
neers, made up largely of railroad
men, would be sent to France as soon
as possible. These men and doctors
and nurses will be the first to reach
the war zone.
Members Of the French war commits
sion, after their trip through the cen
trail West, were received enthusiastic
cally in Philadelphia and New York !;
some of the British commissioners ad-
dressed congress, and all of them pre-
pared to return home, confident that
the arrangements made with America
ensured the prosecution of the war to
a victorious conclusion.
The finance committee of the
French chamber of deputies, in report
ing on bill, asserted that France
must have "peace that pays" in re-
storation of Alsace-Lorraine, compen-
sation in kind for thefts and damages
in the invaded region, rebuilding of
the ruined towns and villages by Ger
man hands, ships to replace those
sunk, and guarantees for annual pay
mentS.
1t was stated authOritatively in
Washington Thursday that President
Wilson had Informed Mr.. Balfour that
the United States will make war and
peace in common with the allies.
Ferment in Germany.
portance were the events of the week
in Germany. Chancellor Won Beth
mann-Hollweg, finding himself between
two fires, maintained silence concern
ing Germany's aims in the war. On
the one hand. the e-without-anneX-
alton socialists attacked him and the
government fiercely, virtually demand
ing that he step down and out. On the
other hand, the conservatives and PAN
Germans assailed him for apparently
yielding to the other faction, and also
boldly blamed his hesitant policy for
the long duration of the war. Sweep
ing internal reforms in the empire are
demanded by the radicals, and some of
them-but not enough yet-venture to
urge the wiping out of Prussia's bale
full predominance and even the deposi-
ton of the reigning dynasty.
A logical result of these agitations
was the reported attempt Of an assas-
sin to shoot the kaiser in Berlin. Had
his aim been truer his bullet would
have removed not alone Wilhelm, but
the whole house Of Hohenzollern.
Closely related to events in Germany
were the developments in Russia. The
provisional heads of the new republic
were forced to agree to form coali-
! ton government with the dele
gates of the soldiers and work
mems councils. This quieted the dis
turbances for the time being, but the
| German socialist emissarieS continued
to spread their propaganda. Borgjerg,
Danish socialist, who is in Petrograd,
made known the peace terms proposed
by the German socialist democratic
party, the majority faction. They in
clude recognition of the right of ma
tions to freedom of development. the
introduction Of compulsory interna-
tional arbitration, the restitution by
Germany of all conquered territories,
q plebiscite In Russian Poland, with
freedom to choose between independ-
ence or annexation by Russia or Ger
many; the restoration Of independence
to Belgium, Serbia, and Roumania; the
restoration to Bulgaria Of the Bulgari-
IN districts of Macedonia, and the
granting to Serbia Of q free port on
the Adriatfc.
The radical socialists of Petrograd
at once declared that their party
should have nothing to do with Borg
jerg and his propositions, which they
asserted were wholly pro-German.
Stand Of American Socialists.
Leading American socialists gave out
statement denouncing the interna-
tional socialist conference called for
Stockholm early in June as 'the most
dangerous of all the kaiser's plots for
small losses, comparatively, suffered