davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11
United We Stand, Divided We Fall

The "old guard" is evidently planning to
elect Mr.. Adams, of Iowa, chairman of the
Republican National Committee. The rea-
son is given that he will be harmonizer
and bring all elements into close and
friendly cooperation. This is absurd.
One evening last spring the committee
which had had charge of Mr.. Hughes's
campaign was scheduled to have meet
ing to make plans for the future This
conference never came off, because, in the
afternoon, the Republican members got
together and settled everything, expecting
that in the evening the Progressives
would behave like little lambs and do moth
ing to disturb the prearranged pro-
gramme. The New York committeeman,
Chairman William r. Wilcox and Major
Herbert Parsons, disapproved of this
short-sghted and stupid political trick,
but they were outvoted by Mr.. Adams and
his crowd.
"A few days ago subcommittee of the
Republican organization met in Washing
ton and decided to invite the Progressives
VINO had worked SO hard and so we'll on
4'-i' 1iuSNcS campaign COmmlJtec to the
st. Louis gathering. Mr.. Adams voted
against the motion, but later, when he saw
nc was beaten, changed his vote for ap-
pearance's sake. A subsequent proposal
to continue the campaign committee con-
sisting of Republicans and Progressives
was passed, with Mr.. Adams again on the
"stand-patters' side.
The cold guard" candidate is obviously
cne of those who will not surrender an old
prejudice or an old idea. He has shown
himself to be disinclined even to consider
advice from any but those in the inner
ring. 1t is evident that he will never go
cut Of his way in search of help. And
the Republican party needs help. Progress
sives with energy, with consistent and
practical idealism, wish to help. Shall
they be barred or shall they be permitted
to join in rejuvenating the party which
Lincoln founded?
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11
Spain Falls in Line

Spain has taken in good part our gov
ernment's recent hint that it expects a
certain amount of neighborly accommoda-
ton on the part of neutrals. If the neu-
trail countries of Europe desire to trade
with us and to get coal in our harbors for
their shipping, it is certainly up to them
to return our courtesies and favors. We
are entitled to ask from them supplies
which they have to sell and which we need
and also to ask for assurances that the
goods we deliver to them shall not in any
way release materials which may find
their way into Germany
Unlike Holland Denmark Sweden and
Norway, Spain is not in position to
trade with Germany. But she is in a
position to withhold from us materials
which we may want for our forces in
France. Here is a chance for reciprocity
of benevolent sort. According to cable
dispatches from Madrid, the Spanish
Premier has just announced the conclusion
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11
German Poison In the Schools

The German virus eats in evervwharo
There can be little doubt that for son,o
years before the war the German govern
ment, as an adjunct to it's spy service hero
was planting propagandsts on the teach;no
staifs of our schools and COLLEGES. Press.
ure was skilfully created through the Cor
mah-language press and through German
and German-American organizations fo,. .
larger recognition of German Kultur ,nd
especially for the compulsory teaching Of
the German language in the public schools
Since the war educational boards and
state legislatures have been cutting ont
German instruction. But the poisonous
influence of the Teuton propagandist 10
still at work. The pro-German teachers
IN the public schools see that popular onin.
ION will not tolerate much longer the main.
tenance of German classes. They ara
therefore trying to induce the students who
drop German to take up Spanish in pref
erence to French. As was pointed ont ~
The Tribune the other day, the number of
students taking German in the BROOKLYN
Eastern District High School. in a stron,
German-American section, declined from,
17o1 in February. 1917 to 68S in Feh-
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11
Belgium and the Congo
Charges of Atrocities Not Sustained
by Facts
0 the Editor of The Tribune

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: The letter from Mr.. Charles Hooper.
Of Seattle, appearing in The Tribune of
February calls for a few words. In the
course of rather cloudy speculation on the
means of securing an early peace the writer
says: "Belgiums sins in the Congo do not
entitle her to a very great deal of sympathv
but, of course, her derelictons in the CONGO
cannot be considered in the council chamber. :"
suppose that this piece of literature
refers to the campaign of abuse against the
congo Free State some twenty wears aoo
This campaign was run by clique of Liver
pool operators under the lead of Easement
and Morell. Many Investigators roamed in
the Congo State at that time, with view
to substantiatng the Congo "atrocites," and
never has there been produced one proof of
u system of atrocities of which the Congo
Free State was accused
Since the Congo Free State became Bel-
glan colony, in 1910, the country has become
a hed of practical observation for foreign
individuals and official missions The ef
hciency and liberalism of the government
are fully established by the results. OF all
the colonies in the world that were opened
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11
Three-Cent Interborough Postage

Three-cent interborough postage is a
nuisance. But who is to blame for it and
how it is to be got rid of? "The Times"
thinks that the Postoficc Department is
misinterpreting the postal rate paragraph
OF the war revenue act Of October last by
requiring three-cent stamps to be placed
cn letters mailed from Manhattan to
Brooklyn, Staten Island or Queens But
this is not the case. The law permits drop
letters to be mailed at the two-cent rate
A drop-letter is a letter for delivery within
the same postofficc district in which it is
mailed. Since New York City is split up
into fourteen separate postal districts the
three-cent rate properly applies to letters
passing from one Of these districts into
another.
The trouble is not with the law or it's
Interpretation, but With the antiquated
postal organization which we still put
up with. We ought to have one postohice
here instead of fourteen independent post
Offices. Consolidation would eliminate the
three cent intracity rate. Those who want
to escape an annoying and unnecessary tax
ought therefore to urge our Senators and
Representatives to work for a postal
merger. AS soon as our thirteen useless
postmasterships arc abolished the abnor-
NAL three-cent local rate will automatically
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11
Getting 1t Over to the Kaiser

The world war has stif1ed progress in
some arts, killed others. But one it has
energlzed and made new. Cryptography has
never in any one period of its history
achieved such popularity or been brought
to such perfection as under the stress
OF this war. Necessity has wrought a
revolution in all it's methods.
Two important results of this revo-
luton are apparent. First, the unwieldv,
entangllng mechanical codes evolved by
Wheatstone Bacon, Poe, ,Saint-Cyr and other
ingenious men have been discarded as un
safe and impracticable. Experience has
proved that any cipher based upon some
elementary mathematical principal may be
readily solved, along lines laid down bv
such scholars as Romani and de Vigcnere.
1t has become necessary, therefore, for a
spy to exercise originality and imagina-
ton in cipher writing if he would be
sure of escaping detection. I.
Another effect Of the war has been to
introduce novel methods of TRANSMITTING
news from one country to another. The
Watchfuness of secret service operatives
everywhere has compelled the spy to shun
all normal channels of communication and
realize entirely new ways of getting his
information through to it's proper desti-
nation. In this quest he has manifested
genius of superb order.
We have only to glance at the dailv
papers for proof of this. An opera star
IS arrested in London with incriminatire
notes in her possession. Where is the
key to these secrets found? Imprinted
with acid upon her shoulders! Another
hero of the espionage squad sketches an
innocent appearing cover design for z
society journal in Porto Rico. And the
Kaiser, who subscribes to it, is thereby
enabled to ascertain exactly how much
reliance New York places on it's Battery.
So Sturzeps captors hint, at least.
Earlier in the war even more baf]ino
devices were used by spies operating in
Europe. French coins, bearing the tiniest
scratches, gave word to the German Grown
Prince Of Nivelles impending offensive
IN the Champagne. A French washerwoman y
transmitted military intelligence to The
enemy aVlators by deft arrangement OF
sheets on the ground. A German spy in
the British trenches, informed his COM
rades of happenings by means of letters
outlined upon the palms of his hands.
None OF these devices was detected for a
great many weeks
Inc problem is veXing one. 1t is i'm
possible, obviously, to stop some leaks.
Reflect, for instance, how easily a COPY
OF this Tribune might be sent to Berlin
Then observe, further, how in this verv
editorial the Kaiser might read a grave
secret-provided only he were told TO
take the hrst letter of each full line,
starting at the top.
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11
No PoliticiansI
70 the Editor of The Tribune

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Senator Chamberlain, in his war css
net scheme, left out the most importar
clauses, as follows:
a. mo appointee to the war cabinet shs
heretofore ever have held any political .
governmental position, Office or Job. Feders
state or local; or any party organizatia
position or office; or have ever run for an
Office as the nominee of any party.
b. "Any appointee accepting Office in th
war cabinet shall thereby be debarred fro.
ever subsequently, accepting any Federal 4
state Office or appointment.
c. "The foregoing shall not apply to arm
or navy officers already in service, to volus
teers serving without pay in any branchs
of the government, or to minor duties in
posed by law on citizens, such as jury du!s
ETC."
Ten months ago you published iets,
from me in which it was stated that vsr
cabinet must be formed or America would
fail.
Since Senator Chamberlain has bela.edy
walked to this self-evident fact, perhaps b.
can be sufficiently resuscitated to grasp th
other selfevident fact that politicians mus
be categorically excluded both for practice
reasons and for the psychological effect
Somewhere in America there must be thre
Americans of proved ability who can sc
talking long enough to do something. An.
II there are we want them for the war cab
net. W. GRAHAME-J0NES.
New York, Jan. %. 1918.
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11

10 the influence Of the white race s;nco a. =
ume Henry Stanley landed at Vivi. tho pal
gian Congo is by far the most dewe1onea
.o'ony' morally as we'll as materially -
mas by Tar the largest mileage Of railro,ds
telephone and telegraph wires; the host fas+
est and safest river steamer serv;cas. ~.
biggest white population of all nationals;
'he greatest number of religious estahl;sh
mehts OF all denominations; its medical s,,n
vey IS unequalled by the sister colonos ~
A1rica; the Bacteriological Institute of Ion
Poldvllle IS famous the world over for ~
discoveries IN tropical pathology: the co,on,,
was one OF the first to adopt a monetarv s,,s
tenn Tor use among the natives. ;ts co,a
,i'erce outranges by far that of its ne;nh
oofs; the sale of alcoholic drinks r. a.,
negroes has been long since prohibited amd
~ ~ has been recognized by all the powers y,
Europe that it was the best policed co,o
M n. nlack Africa in spite of its immense ter
ritory. The public force" as the armed soa ~
nee is called, has shown its strik;na ~
nciency IN the quick and thorough manner -
"nlch 1t disposed of the Germans !, ~.
80 rica' cleaning two hundred thousand sousro
hii0me'res of country, with Tabora. the 49,;
ths ta'' s lncluded' in FIVE months time, despite
we lac' mat this was going on in the verv
go 80 oi AFRICA twelve hundred and fftv
miles from the sea, through a ,oadless 10y
mountainous country ''''"
New York Fob = 1o,e
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11

as actual poverty becomes less and the
general condition of the great mass of the
people is improved, does discomfort become
more acute? And is it profitable to pam
der to this feeling? Apparently it is.
We do not know what "educational"
value the "movie" possesses. 1t appeals to
wide variety Of public, but in general
we should say a public which does not read
very widely or think very deeply. Also, a
very large part of that public is young,
therefore impressionable. What sort of
notions does this sort of movie breed in
millions of immature and unframed
mindsc
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11
A "Movie"

At one OF the leading movie" theatres
this week there has been given singular
drama" if we may call it that, which has
suggested thoughts. What influence has
the "movie"? Do the impressions gained
from fairly persistent attendance upon
film performances become motor forces in
the minds of those who do not think?
If so, the film in question is worthy Of
reflection.
The play bore the title "Cheating the
Public" and was offered as "a contribution
of the producer" toward exposing "the
crime of profteering" And this was the
idea: A young girl, apparently around
fourteen, but afterward declared to be "of
legal age" is driven through hunger to
visit the home of the millionaire proprie-
tor of the canning factory from which she
had been discharged; is there subjected to
a brutal assault by the millionaire, and, in
defence of herself, shoots at her assailant
and presumably kills him.
This little girl is tried-n the scenes
that follow-and, in spite of her youth,
her sex and a provocation universally held
to be justifiable as a resort to any mode
Of defence, the jury is shown standing
this child. The lone juror, an aged man,
finally gives in, and the audience is shown.
in all its horrors, the prison cell, the march
to the eXecutioner's chair, and the child
seated therein. At the last moment, of
course, she is rescued and pardoned
through the grotesque "discovery" that at
the moment her own pistol rang out an
other discharged enploye had shot through
the window, and that his bullet, and not
hers, had the fatal issue
1t would be difficult to imagine anything
more vacuous, improbable and inane. But
this would scarcely distinguish this par
ticular film from the average run of
movie" productions. The point is that at
a time when the courts and juries are re-
preached for permitting revolver-carrying
ladies to shoot without much hindrance
whom they please the courts and the law
are depicted as bounding to the electric
chair an innocent child. At time when
work was never so plentiful and working
people never so we'll employed-wages
never so high in the whole history of the
world-here is a film depicting a ruthless
employer grinding down his wretched wage
slaves with one hand and exacting enor-
nous profits from the public with the
other. And when hungry mob of his
striking employees attack his palace" we
have the gentleman shooting into the mob
and apparently wounding or killing one
of the strikers. Yet he goes unpunished,
not even arrested.
In brief, if the scenario had been writ
ten, let us say, by the departed Emma
Goldman and the affair staged by the un-
lamented Mr.. Berkman, it could scarcely
have been a more excellent piece of anar
chistic propaganda than it is. Yet it is
put out by highly successful commercial
eXplolter of the movie" drama who could
scarcely have left out of sight the box Of
flce possibilities of the piece Is there
here sign of the times? In proportion
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11
Then and Now
To the Editor of The Tribune

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Following the sinking of the Tus-
canla, Secretary Baker is credited with the
following: AN adversary who has refined
Dut made more deadly the stealth of the saw
age IN warfare has challenged America"
Inc loss OF the troop ship was terrible
disaster but The fortune. or misfortune of
war, and, as l see it, does not call for the Sec-
1etary's dramatic sentence above quoted.
The sinking of the unarmed passenoor
ship. Lusitania, with the murder of women
and children and non-combatants, was an ont
rage SO damnably tiendsh that only in this
war has German history furnished parallel
do not recall that Secretary Baker be-.
trayed any special excitement in this case
Then, however, he was not under criticism
THEODORE G. SULLIVAN.
Montclair. n. j., Feb Z 1918
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11
Hiding Behind Marriage
he Editor of The Tribune

I Y 0I'e 11UIVUT OF I ne IrlDune.
Sir: Has it occurred to you that the ru1
ing affecting marriages contracted since Nav
OF last year is rather unfair to the pirls u,h =
gave up the men they liked most to Incl
SAM and did even more than that. thev ra-
fused to be married. and sent their onlv nan.
piness to serve the country? What I mean
is; Does 1T not seem unfair that the
young men that have married dots lust to
escape servlce-l know some of them NV,
sei1), physical towards, should be permitted
to hide behind the marriage law Of Secre1
'ary BAKERS making, in order to get out of
service? Wv VI
A GIRL WHO CONSIDERS THE RULING
MOST UNFAIR. ~ A'''NO "
New York, Feb 8, 1918.
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11
Only Hay Is Cheaper

10 the Editor OF The Tribune
Sir: Another crime is now attrlbuteO
the farmer-hoarding his potato crop
1efusing to sell. AS matter of fact
leverse is the case. for right here we ~ =
ten thousand bushels of potatoes OF IS ;,
d quality as We're ever grown, for sale .
cents per pound.
Now, three potatoes averaging seven ,''.
IN circumference and four and one-hali IN.
long will weigh a pound, and there W.
sixty pounds in bushel, that means '
hundred and eighty and. still further
million eight hundred Thousand that VS.
not refuse to SELL
There is only one item that we sec :.
the menu that is cheaper. and that s =
but not many care for it baked.
". w. SCHERMERHORN.
Master Ausable Valley GranSs
keeseville, N. Y. Feb s, 1918.
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11
Against Civil Service Election Ofcia

]ASoAAot NlVI oCIVlCc EIeCl1Ou OulClo
10 the Editor of The Tribune
Sir: Permit me, as one who has sergs
many times as an election official and hi
labored in politics for over twenty years,
voice my opposition to the selection Of Ii
boards OF election by the system of CIV
service. Fundamentally it is wrong becaus
IN the very nature of things loyalty to p'
lltlcal organization is most essential an
CIVIL Service has for its object the elinlh'
ton OF that principle.
l. Men high In commercial, financial and 50
clai circles serve in the positions require
and the inference is logical that no bets'
qualified men could be secured than th'ss
who generally make up the rank and file ..
election officials. 1t is quite certain 'h''
these men would not, or could not, spend the
extra time necessary for a thorough prsum
mary examination such as civil service II
qulres. Errors are not nearly SO frequ'J
as might be reasonably expected, in view
many changes of form of ballots, revision /
election laws, the long, tedious hours b.
the arduous labor entaled
Considering the difficulties involved, spS,
did results are attained. Fraud has not pss
general in past elections, with the excepH'
but rather confined to few districts, I'
if the Honest Ballot Association had p
formed its duty to the public and its s'f
porters much OF the dishonesty Of that e''
ton would have been prevented.
RUDOLPH CONFlELp
New York, Jan. %, 1918.
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11
Washington, February 10

THE policeman, as the traditional re-
posltory of troubles, must be having
an easy time Of it these days. Every
body now tells his troubles to William Gibbs
McAdoo. The trouble tellers are local, ma
tional and international. One minute the
bearer of troubles is some sovereign nation
that wishes to make mild little "touch"
for three or four hundred millions The next
minute it is some farmer who wants Mr. Nc
Adoo to see that he has car on his siding
on the 10th of next March Now come France,
England and Italy crying for the transport
OF tood; then comes a Congre ssman who is
sorely troubled about the cutting off of intra-
state transportation for the editor of an
influential paper in Bear Gulch. Mr.. McAdoo
attends to them all at the rate of about a
eminute maximum to each "Defer" and
refer the twin feral curses of Wash
ington and every part thereof. Mr.. McAdoo
despises them. No friend of the twain can
ever accomplish anything, and in his multi
tudinous jobs Mr.. McAdoo must finish or be
finished. And this is the way he does it:
Seeing What They Want
And Asking for 1t
To the Italian representative: $50 you
need some money. do you? All right step
out to the counter and get it,
To the farmer: you'll get that car my
friend"
To the Congressman: "Sorry, but no
more passes for the Bear Gulch journalist"
To the ambassadors of allied hunger: 'I'll
order special food trains rushed through on
passenger time. Have your ships ready at
Baltimore in five days"
Some day when you think you have too
much to do reflect on these functions Of Mr.
McAdoo. He is
Banker for the Allied world.
Secretary and General Manager of the
Treasury of the United States, the most
powerful and pletnorc financial aggregation
aggregated under the canopy of the
blue.
Chairman of the Federal >Reserve Board
now become the most powerful banking in
stitution known to mankind.
Director General of more than half the
railways of the world.
Head of the risk insurance organiza-
tion, on a fair way to become the master
life insurer Of the world.
Chairman Of the Farm Loan Board, which
is undertaking to finance five million farm
ers.
Treasurer of the American Red Cross spe-
cial S10O,000O00 fund.
Chairman Of the International High Com
mission.
About to become chairman of the Federal
Finance Corporation.
And would like to have charge Of the
$5000o,0 900 labor housing programme
Not member of the Council of National
Defence-but that doesn't require any time
How the Office
SOUGHT the Man
When the Federal government reached
out and picked up 25OO00 miles of railway
and all the things, human, material and i'm
material, that appertain thereto, President
Wilson and Mr.. McAdoo unanimously agreed
that William Gibbs was the man for the lob.
"You see," the latter may be imagined as
saying to the Chief Executive, 81 have only
these few things to attend to now, and +
spread them out over the whole day. can
easily jam them into half a day, and take on
the railway job for the rest of the time"
And he did.
Great Britain, France, Italy, Belgium,
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11

You can purchase merchandise advertised In THE
TRIBUNE With absolute safet-ror dis.aactIon result.
In any case THE TRIBUNE guarantees to your money
hack request. No tape. No uubblInq. We mako
coed promptly II the advertiser does not,
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11
MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Associated exclusively entitled to the use for
'epuohcaton OF ell dispatches credited It
otherwise credited paper and also tho local news of
tsontanco's origin published herein.
81 rights Of republication OF all other
Also reserved.
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11

Owned and published dsy by Tho Tribune Association.
New York Corporation. Ogden Reid. President: Vernon
lsoscs Vice President: F. A. suter. Treasured Address
tribune Building. 54 Nassau Street, New York Telephone
beekman 3000
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11
GUARANTEE

Entered at the Posofce New York as Second Class
Mail Matter.
New-York tribune., 1918-02-11

SUBSCRIPTION RATTs.-By Mail Postage Paid out
aldo Of Greater New York:
IN THE UNITED STATES: OUTSIDE OF GREATER