, 1918-03-14


of Mr.. Baruch as chairman of the
board is indicated by the direction of
the president that the ultimate de-
cislon OF all questions, except the de-
termination of prices, shall rest al
ways with the chairman, the other
members of the board acting in an
advisory and cooperative capacity.
Under this plan, the president seems
to have provided for the centraliZa-
ton of power to an ever greater de-
gree than has been proposed by those
demanding some action of this kind.
l "a
The death of John Redmond, the
Irish national leader, removes the
leading champion of home rule for Ire
land and one of the most striking fig
ures that English politics has pro-
duced in the past quarter of a century.
For more than twenty-five years Red
mond had fought for home rule in Ire
land and during the greater part of
that time, he was the recognized lead
er of Ireland's struggle for liberty"
His determined fight In parliament for
home rule earned for him the sobriquet
of stormy petrol of the house." In
paying tribute to the memory of Red
mond in he house of commons, Sir
Edward Carson, Ulster leader and
longtime opponent of Redmond, made
this significant statement: Indeed,
we were not very far apart in our at
tempts at a settlement of the Irish
question:" Redmond was well-known
in the United States, having visited
this country in 1905 and again In 1910.
In the case of General March, the
new acting chief Of staff, the idea of
Capitalization Of power is also to be
carried out. 1t is announced that
General March will have full power
to %reorganize the general staff with "A
view of giving it the highest efficiency
in its work of directing he strictly
military end of the war. He has been
given the power to select his W as
sistants. One of General March's
first acts was to establish the "open
door policy. He arranged to see
newspaper correspondents once every
day and indicated that he will endeav-
or to relax the censorship to such an
extent that Americans may learn more
about what their soldiers are doing
in France. The appointment of Gen
eral March to this position has won
wide approval as, In his work as chief
of all the American artillery forces In
France. he has been in close touch
with General Pershing and is intimate
ly familiar with all conditions abroad.
III
Speculation as to Germany's we'll
advertised offensive on the western
front has continued, with opinion di-
vided as to whether such an offensive
really will be launched. In some quar-
tiers 1t is believed that Germany is so
fully occupied with developments in
Russia and is so intent upon accom-
plishing her designs in the east h n
she will not undertake M offensive In
the west but will be content to main
tain n defensive attitude. Those TAX
ing this view believe that Germany's
idea is that a deadlock on the west
front will force the allies to agree to
n peace by negotiation N that under
such circumstances h will be able TO
attain all her imperialistic designs in
the east.
On the other hand, further cOncen-
tration of troops on the western front
is taken by some authorities as indi-
eating that Germany really intends to
launch a determined offensive in
France. General Maurice, chief direc-
tor of military operations at the Brit
ish war office, declares that the enemy
Is now ready t. strike on the western
front at any moment suitable to his
purpose. He declares that the allies
remain superior In guns, rifles and air.
craft, but that the margin of advan-
a e in these particulars is steadily
diminishing and an equalization of
strength Is being approached.
Ia
More frequent and more pr%etentlous
raids undertaken by both sides along
the entire western front are regard
ed as forerunners of an offensive. The
raids are made to feel out the enemy,
to find, If possible, the weak spots In
his lines. The many German raids are
believed to have been made necessary
by the air superiority of the allies
along the greater part of the western
front. Unable to gain the information
they need through their airmen, the
Germans have been forced TO resort
to raids in order to learn the strength
OF the opposing forces ut various
poInts on the front.