Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-03-09
Neither Crapens Nor Fools.

The clamor in certain quarters for an embargo
on food shipments to the Allies is merely an echo
from Berlin By hook and crook the Kaisers
agents in this country seeking to stop Amer
lean exports to England and France, as means
Of supplementing and reinforcing the U-boat cam
paigu. While one band of his retailers openly de-
hes our ships to cross the Atlantic under penalty
OF ruthless destruction, another band working in
sidiousIy in our midst, declares that food needed
for starving Americans is being poured recklessly
into the nav of belligerent Europe. The Hohen-
zoIIern hope thus seems to be that between subma-
rine intimidation and embargo propaganda, our
commerce with the Allies can be cut on. And this
ingenious plan probably would succeed if the as
sumption on which Germany has adopted 1t were
true. namely. that half the American people are
towards and that the other half are fools
Fortunately. however the great majority of
the American people stand stanchly for their ma
tion's rights and for its honor They have no de-
sire to buster nor any intention to cringe. They
stand Loyalty with the President in his purpose to
put the flag back on the high seas whence it has
been driven by German piracy. They stand con-
temD,uousIv against the twelve renegades of the
Senate who betrayed their countrys trust. Ger
many may conclude that because twelve men OF
La Follette's stripe in the Senate, there VIII
he no resistance or reckoning her destruction of
American ships and her murder of American
citizens: and thus emboldened she may plunge
further than ever in ruthlessness. if that be pos
sibIe But she will not be long in learning that
for every person of La Foette's stripe. the united
States has a million patriots.
If Americans not so craven as to surrender
10 submarine terrorism. certainly they not so
foolish as to be gulIed by Germanys embargo prop
aganda The contention that high prices of food
are caused by exports to the Entente nations will
not bear moments scrutiny. Our exports of food
necessaries during the last twelvemonth-the pc
riod in which prices approached and reached their
present dizzy peak-were much less than in 1915,
the decreases amounting to some ffty-one million
bushels in wheat and eighty-one million pounds in
beef besides prOportonate decreases in exports of
other staples
Still more significant in this connection
tain facts set forth in a recent report by the
national Department of Agriculture. The wheat
crop for 1916, as is commonly known, was below
the fve-year average yield-in round numbers,
eighty million bushels short. But there was
brought over from the unexampled bounty of the
preceding year one hundred and sixty-four million
bushels. all of which was available for export be-
cause the 1916 crop within itself fully sui-
cient for domestic needs. OF the one hundred and
sixty-four million bushels available for export,
however only ninety-seyen million bushels had
been shipped out of this country up January 4
of the present year. In the light of these facts
is absurd to contend that exports to England and
France are responsible for the high price of bread
in America. or that embargo on food exports is
the proper remedy for our burdensome cost of
living.
1t is very significant. moreover that with few
exceptions the pleas for such embargo from
pro-German sources There is reason to suspect,
indeed that the food riots which recently broke
in New York and Their northern cities we're melted
by German plot or. at least, by German propa-
ganda Interestingly enough, those demonstra-
tions-which turned out to be more noisy than
serious occurred almost simultaneously the time
the submarine issue sweeping to a crisis and
the question OF arming American merchant ships
was assuming definite form. That the popular tenn
per in some quarters of crowded cities was natur-
ally inhammable as a result of excessive prices
of food cannot be denied. 1t that condition
of course. which gave the Kaiser's propagandsts
their chance Undoubtedly, there were privation
and want and downright hunger in places,
among some people; such conditions be
found every winter in every city. But II we may
Judge by responsible reports from New York and
other cities where the disturbances occurred dis
tess of the kind more acute widespread
last February than It has been time in other
years Evidently then. the explosions were due not
so much iniammabIe conditions to those agents
Of the HohenzoIIern monarchy who have not hest
tated to bombs and preach anarchy in the serv-
fee Of their sovereign.
But this scheme wild and, fortunately,
futile the plot to join Mexico and Japan in a
Germandirected invasion of the United States. The
fuse sputtered and went out. What probably was
designed TO be a nationwide uprising that would
divert attention from the U-boat issue and lead
an embargo food exports to England and France.
turned out to be merely bits of vandalism and
spurts of disorder The people of the United States
have not been gulIed by the food embargo hoax,
49, L.. ana H.