davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05
The Fourth Party

Almost without notice the National
War Labor Board assumes control Of the
most important factor in the cost of
operating urban and interurban rail
ways, namely, the wages of employees
1t awards an increase ranging from 35
to 65 per cent in the pay of the street
railway employees in sixteen cities This
it does on the theory that the properties
come under the head of war industries,
and that to keep them at high state of
einclency is "a war necessity, justifying
Federal interference" A wage rate
high enough to keep labor in a state of
right living is one of the factors in eff
cheney. But the properties also must
live. Therefore, higher wages must be
met by higher fares. The National War
Labor Board does not ignore this fact
Instead, it passes from the wage prob
lem to the question Of finance, and not
only suggests in q general way that the
companies be allowed to increase fares.
but IN certain cases definitely recon-
mends that rates be raised in order to
avert bankruptcy, receivcrships and de-
moralization, with failure of service"
Ihls is very extraordinary situation.
Levelhng wages up to maintain certain
average of labor efficiency logically in
wolves a levelling up of fares to main
tam certain average of sovency, and
regulation Of both wages and fares leads
logically to government control of local
public service corporations all over the
country. Indeed, it is suggested that
the government shall take over the coun
try's city and interurban lines and put
them under the control of the railroad
administration.
The only justification for Federal in
ter1erence IN the conduct of local public
service utilities is, or would be, the fail
ure OF the municipalities to keep those
properties up to a fair standard of eff
ciency; and this the municipalities ought
to do for two reasons: One. that if is
unwlse and unnecessary to harass the
government with local problems and al
low them in the aggregate to become a
national problem, and, Tvo, that there is
no end to such interference once it be-
gins.
If the government as a war measure
may interfere to raise the wages of
street railway employees and the rates Of
fare, it may by the same rule of neces-
sity interfere to regulate the price Of
gas and the wages Of those engaged in
producing light, heat and power. What
next would remain to be seen
1t is the function Of the municipali-
tics and states to keep their public utli-
tl0s in good working order. They owe it
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05

to the nation as a whole. What Is
proper standard of wage and what is a
fair price for the public to pay for trans
portation, heat and light should be in
every case questions Of fact, to be deter
mined intelligently among the three
parties at interest-the corporations
the employees and the public. But where
these three fail to agree, and there is
obvious danger of failure in service, a
fourth party at interest will intervene
That is the government, whose war
workers all over the country must be
adequately served. But there is a dis
position on the part of the corporations
and the Public Service commissions to
despair Of finding an equitable adjust
ment and to take their worries to the gov
ernment. Thus, the Public Service Com
mission of this district, unable to work
out a scheme Of wage and rate increases
to meet war conditions, appeals to Wash
ington to appoint a street railway ad-
ministrator or board of mediation to
handle the New York situation.
Has not Washington already enough
to do? This is not question of Federal
regulation or Federal control, as such,
to be debated on its merits 1t is much
more than that The danger already is
that the country's affairs will become so
enormously centralized and ntegrated
at Washington that all administrative
capacity will be swamped.
Then, unnecessarily to add local prob
lens to national concerns is a perform
ance fraught with dangerous, not to say
disastrous, possibilities Let the munich
palltles assume their own burdens and
solve their own perplexities
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05
Use of the
Hearst Prorogcrda

1t is matter of interest to notice Ger
man quotations from the enemy press Only
those things seem to be copied which the
Germans like to believe. From American
papers they seize items which prove" that
Washington's war policy is half hearted.
that TIE country is in the grip Of the l.
W. W, that strikes are everywhere impcd-
ing government work and that the Hearst
propaganda is undermining the American
morale. The alleged report Of an American
militar. commission testifying to the in
vincibility of the German position in the
West is eagerly copied, and La FolIette's
disclosures" are represented as seriously
embarrassing the Administration. German
editors ike to clip items about the Sim
Fein agitation and the immense number of
troops that England must send to Ireland
Naturally enough they welcome indications
OF ascension among their foes, but in at
tempting to prove this they resort to the
most farfetched selection and the most un-
scrupulous perversion. The complaints Of a
United States Senator regarding financial
contributions to the Allies, the alarm of
France because of England's designs upon
Calais, PortugaPs uneasiness at British
ambitions in Africa, the "inevitable" clash
between Japan and England over Chinese
problems and the coming rivalry between
the greatly enlarged merchant marine Of
the United States and that Of England
these and similar items are given wholly
unmerited emphasis. In some cases if such
reports were traced to their source they
would be found to have originated in Ger
man propaganda. The German public, read
ing propaganda items planted in enemy
papers an' reprinted in their own, can Sc
cure only the most grossly distorted no.
ton of Entente opinion.
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05
Hooveriring in Heroes

The threatened shortage of heroes for
light fiction has been happily avertel.
We can worry along without wheat, even
without sugar, but deny us our monthly
ration Of square jaWed, clcan-iimbed
young lovers, preferably with sense Of
humor and red hair, and then indeed is it
true that it is the debutantes who suffer
the hardships Of war
Those were dreary weeks when we
faced the prospect of heroless summer,
when we realized that not only had all
the tennis players vanished from the
summer hotel world, but even from the
covers of the magazines. The best of
our young men had gone to war. Those
who were left were 1at-footed, or color
blind, or had weak hearts None of these
we're the stuff OF which heroes were
made.
We might, of course, expect few con-
ISOLATION matches from this sort of ma
terial-a few tales of lcft-behinds who
made good in heroism, There were
samples at hand already, one of a man
dressmaKer VINO was a hero of France
and another who was too fat for the
United States army, but not too fat to
outwlt the spies and save q troop train
There were a few stories, too, of Red
Cross nurses who got away with little
romance under the very nose of that
most terrible chaperon. war.
In the main, however, we feared for
remance-at least of the good Green
wich-Vilage, coast of Maine, back-in-
Indiana variety. Cupid, we moaned, had
developed a psychosis, and could traffic
only in the affairs of returned heroes
with shell shock. Whole men, with all
their bones and all their faculties, had
been eliminated from normal American
life and fiction.
Only the movies were untouched by ths
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05
When GovabedEeN
From The Journal of Industrial cnd

y 'o"e "e 0oNfndl OF IndUStf3d and
k'ngineeriaag Chemist1yl
I" HE Garabed's completely dead Twas
Z put to sleep through just one peep
by bloomin' committee that had
no pity-no, this is not poetry, but merely
the reflex action on hot summer night
from reading one of the speeches in Con-
gress advocating the guarantee of special
government protection to the free energy
machine which was TO revolutionize the
world, If committee Of five distinguished
scientists should give its O. K. after
demonstration.
Unfortunately, the committee reported:
I've do not believe its principles are sound
that his devices are operative, or that ttsy
can result in the practical development or
utilization of free energy" But this de-
cislon is neither here nor there The ma.
chlne did create free energy, even in ad.
vance of inspection. Here is the proof
the form Of quotations from the introduc.
ton of the speech above referred to, print
ed IN The Congressional Record" Of De-
cember is, 1917, page $40, reproduced for
the benefit of the scoffers who insist that
'The Record is dry reading:
Mr.. Speaker, the miracle Of yesterday
is the commonplace Of to-day There was
time when man was perfect in all his part;
and elements. He was complete physically
The poet, the painter, the sculptor, the
dreamer, in the widest flights of superb
fancy, never caught more than feetns
n+ hat !,
the Lord 10 the first man and first womsh
"Not only was man complete physicaTi
at one time, but he was perfect mentally.
lie new all philosophy and all science.
Mathematical exactness was instructive vii'
him. He knew and could interpret bTd
song. He knew where the flower bloom
came from, and why. He understood ths
passions Of the tiger. H saw all problems
with clear and unmistakable vision.
"He was complete spiritually. He dis
cussed with the Divine the themes OF TIC
divinity. He communed with the angels
He was so complete in his structure 'hS
he possessed the power to destroy his OWL
perfection, and he exercised this po~s''
lie sinned. That is to say, he violates
some law Of harmony. What it wss we 0'
not know. Perhaps we never shall know
But we know that il was the exercise %
a power by which the integrity Of his triF''
structure was destroyed.
There was some power by the exefei''
OF which the integrity of the triple s'ra'
urc was destroyed | think that 'oucn'
his every phase and characteristic. !"
vitalized him physically. TIE majestic 0'VI
receded; the form became bent WAITS 'D'
vile protuberances grew upon the 's'
The nerves lost control over the rnase''"
and these. uncontrolled, fell to hldeous =
PRESTON"
All Of which and much more was spfVF'
of the Garabed
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05
<<Para-MunchQusenis571 -


DY HER domination of the press Ger
~ many has attempted to crystalline
the thought of her people and to so-
late them from foreign opinion sort Of
intellectual Chinese wall has been built up
to keep out the currents of world thought,
while all the internal channels are brought
within governmental control. The whole
press of Germany is placed under mill
tary control. Editors receive instructions
every few days from the military COM
manders of their districts as to what their
sheets may or may not contain. Some fine
day an editor may arrive at his office to
find a brief official notice of the suppress
sion of his paper merely q printed form
on which is filled in the title of the publi-
cation and the period Of suspension, the
commanders name being affixed with
rubber stamp.
IN theo the censorship has been sup
posedly limited to military matters, but it's
actual operation has been such as to sthe
political criticism we'll. For instance, all
discussion of the future constitution of
Asace-Lorraine is under the ban; no men
tion must be made of conditions of pay
and work in government munition plants;
labor disturbances must not be referred to,
and severe conditions of living in Germany
or in occupied territory are not to be re-
ported No information must leak out re-
garding violence and unrest in Bohemia and
East Prussia, conscription into the indus
trial or national auxiliary service" must
not be discussed, and under no circum
stances Is the High Command" { l. c., Hin
denburg) to be introduced into the discus
sion of political questions. Most unfort-
unatey the treatment of peace offers and
war aims from e liberal standpoint has
been stihed, and those who favor a peace
of understanding have been branded as
traitors.
Not only written opinion, but spoken
opinion as well if it be liberal sort, is
suppressed. The military governor of
Strassburg did not permit the Diet of Al
sace-Lorralnc to meet till ne was assured
that it would not talk politics." A legs-
laturc chat must not talk p,litics! Ii should
be tagged and exhibited as a finished prod
uct OF militarism Reports of speeches in
the Rcichstag are mutiated by the censor
so that their true character is etfaced, and
the people may not learn exactly what is
said in their imperial parliament.
Besides the suppression of undesirable
news, there is another function of news
control which Germans employ--the forced
publication Of official material and "in-
spred" articles. The editors are not only
told what to omit, but they are directed as
to what attitude to take on certain ques-
tions, what interpretations to place on
events in the international field, what ar
ticles to be reproduced from other
papers and what kind of comments" are
to be made given topics.
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05
o Solemn, Face!

10 the Editor of The Tribune.
sir: | have read with amused trenida+;or
'he AWFUL things said about me anony
mously by the not very courageous eng.
Hshmnn Who Has Played Both Cricket ora
BASEBALL will take what he says humblv
10 heart and carefully restrain for the
future the good humor with which. alas
heaVen mas endowed me. How long | shall
"e aple TO 1--we with solemn a face
oont quite know, but will do nv utmost
10 suDdue the smile, which, according 10
my friend, presents my fellow countrvmon
IN an unfavorable light In the mean time
nope that my lapse has not been too serions
Tor | have addressed many scores of thou-
sands Of long-sutfering Americans and have
SO "behttled' my country as to arouse. even
among lrlsh, demonstrations on behalf of
Great Britain. There is such thing ma
harmless chaH, like that OF the. British
soldiers who sing in chorus, 81 want to
go nome meaning the opposite-namelv
Berlin The fact is that I was gently twit
ting not tho English but the American.
who still believe we are slow noon,o,
hope my mentor will continue TO put mo
right when go wrong. and in the mean time
suggest that he shall look I'D words like
humor, irony, etc, in his dictionary. Lie
Is 80 grave to-day that we must be allowed
sometimes to relax our cheekbones And
ms an old cricketer myself, / think TINT NV
'dol VIII survive Indeed | seem to detoct
on his sunburned face the suggestion ~ g.,
wink y " u,,ycn>,
New York, July 81, 1918.
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05
Wanted; a ThriUe,
BY Emma Busbe.
a SAILOR of the torpedoed prs,;,
N Lincoln was seen by his matt. 'sas 60

n 0aihof. OF the torpedoed Preside.
N Lincoln was seen by his matt. sas a
ting alone on seagoins ,ss ~
calmly reading a novel. s's
This story is going the rounds ..
otic meetings as an example of tho -, p."'
did morale of our sailors but, taL;,r
morale for granted and once reassr,s, a'
to the ultimate safety of the rant 49,.
my interest centres in the book W.T. we
than in the boy. Nss
What manner of novel was tbi.
could hold the attention of q man VII" a''a
just escaped from a submarineq ws
hero of fiction was ever found in r,;s''
thrilling enough In ta.e the odga "a s1'
own hero's enjoyment of his late sa.
ure? Or. assuming that he had lit+Io ;.s "''
ination and felt no urge to writ. -
impressions for the home psper NJ
then, assuming that, one who know, ..S '
ors could easier believe that he vour,
sleep rather than read during his how.
of unexpected leisure.
1t must have been stirring tale c;,,.
me incidentally new faith in the op.,;s
of the fiction which is provided f.,
warriors through the kind agencies Of IL.
American Library Association and ~
Young Mems Christian Association W..
told me last spring that the generon. ,nI
lie was stocking up the soldiers Uh,s,;,.
with Anthony Trollope and "PlutarcS,.
Lives"?
l should like to read that book NJ.
since was ten and missed the first di,,..
IN camp, guzzling over "The Swiss Fau,.
Robinson" have l known anything ths,
could so command my Imagination. Thu,
was a real adventure Father had bouvh.
the book, l presume, with the incenuor.
plan of having mother read it aloud in ~.
lazy mountain afternoons, while the chill
dren should pick over the blueberries nm,
he cleaned fish for supper. On the vs,r
first morning, however before the sst
hooks were unpacked or the Young hir,A
cut for poles, l discovered the book. Thar.
was a shady shore - that tinv mounts,
lake and fringe of scrub pine just beyond
the point. Under that pine, fat on my
stomach in the white, hard sand, hid
Vaguely the voice of mother calling mo -
dinner broke in upon the fascinating &c.
count of the competent Mrs. Robinson and
the feasts she dished up of breadfrujt
and bananas. Baked beans and bacon and
ginger cookies filled the woods with tbai,
fragrance, but I smelled them not Varuely
the shouts Of the family in swimming min.
gled with the shrieks Of the Rob;nsons .,
they risked their lives for the last tim.
dashing through the surf from the isls,1
to the fast sinking treasure ship; hes,t
them not. l dare say mosquitoes bit m,
and felt them not. Only the heavy hant
OF parental authority-wcll, we'll! no ten
year-old imagination is proof against tina,
The point is that should like to ind an
other book of similar compelling power
| might hunt up that sailor who sat on tn
raft and ask him about it, but | dare mi
Everybody laughs when I suggest it. an
tries to make me believe the story ism
true.
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05
One Gift for All

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: You are to be thanked for your
editorial of July 20, discussing the methods
of raising funds in the coming drive for
the social work of tho various organizations
such as the Y. NJ. C. A., Y. w. c. A., Ma
tional Catholic War Council, Jewish Wei
fare Board, American Library Association
and War Camp Community Service There
is good reason why all gifts for the types
of work performed by these organizations
should be given simultaneously There
should be no sectarianism about it, The
work these organizations are doing is So
cial, not religious. There are chaplains to
do the religious work. 1t is unfortunate
that sectaranism arose in the original
division. Your plan would solve the prob
lem of giving for many who do not see
reason for sectarian social work in camp
and on the battlefield The division Of
the funds raised might very we'll be de-
termned in advance.
1t would help givers if the various or
kanzations presented to the public before
the campaign begins exact statements as
to the use OF the funds already given.
showing amounts invested in profit making
enterprises, the profits made the appor-
tlonments to be made for the different kinds
Ct work from the new funds. etc 1t il
undesirable, of course in these davs of
strenuous costs that funds should bo en-
ployed for strengthening the future ac.
uVItes OF any scctarian work beyond
that which grows out of the quality of ser.
vice performed for the soldiers and sailors.
New York, July 90 1918. HES. .
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05
Up TO Forty-hve

After long hesitation and much back
ing and filling Che War Department has
decided to raise the maximum draft age
to forty-fve Congress is to be asked to
do now what Secretary Baker dissuaded
it from doing a couple of months ago
what the House of Representatives at
least, was willing to do more than year
ago, when the original conscription law
was passed.
From the start the whole problem has
been to utilize our available man power
for war purposes. 1t was utilized most
inadequately in the departments first
draft plan, which sought to conine con-
scripton to the classes between nineteen
and twenty-six. Congress balked at this,
rightly holding it to be an unfair adjust
ment of the burdens Of military service.
The department was thinking only of
getting men for the first fighting line.
But wars nowadays are not fought
wholly on the battlefront. They require
a vast military organization Of industry
and the development of enormous non
combatant services.
Congress had intuition enough to see
that the departments policy was too mar
row. The House Of Representatives voted
for a maximum age limit of forty. The
Senate, more amenable to mistaken eX
pert advice, compelled compromise on
thirty-one.
1t is clear that we need an army in
4
men, with reserves of equal strength to
draw on. The present draft law cannot
furnish many more than 100000 men
if the seective principle is to be respect
ed. And Of those 10000 nearly 1,000,-
900 will be volunteers, under the mini
mum age limit of twenty-one and over
the maximum age limit of thirty-one
1t is absolutely necessary to broaden
the limits of conscription, and forty-fve
is the first practicable stopping place.
From the new classes above thirty
and possibly from some classes below
twenty y-one-enough fighting men can be
drawn to sustain cur armies at their
proper strength. And from these classes
required to carry on the war industries.
The departments hesitatons have been
political rather than military. The readi-
ness of the American people to 60 on
genuine war basis has been mis- rusted
This was a great mistake The popular
success of the first conscription law
furnished ample evidence to the con-
trary. All classes and ages are willing to
serve. More than that, they demand
chance to serve.
The "work or fight" programme is one
that appeals to Americans of all condi-
tons. The people were always willing o
give the government more than it vent
ured to ask. President Wilson has spo-
ken eloquently of the use of "force with
out limit" That is the true American
programme. 1t is economy to use all the
power we have and to use it quickly.
Congress will raise The draft and work
or fight age to forty-fve. 1t will ra Sc
it again to fifty, if necessary.
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05

we have acted. Circumstances will be
met as they arise
Meanwhile we trust that the State De-
partment will find more appropriate
way Of speaking of our allies than as
"the governments with which we are
now associated in this war"
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05
The Six-lnch Speaks
By Grantland Rice

Leptenant 115th Field Artillery, A. E. f.
The Tribunc)l
= /gI VOICE not Cd1sos and Pm jest tr'fe load;
A The odds hear the midst Of crod;
Ny accent isn't pretty when get the last command
But speak the only message that the Hon understand.
Tiue the right detection and the proper to boot,
Gre q keeneyed gunner who IS hep to how shoot;
(1ive the ranging angle before the groUs
I gve the Bosche lesson IN the only CAB he knoaUs
I'm j1st ree bit throay and perhaps tr1fe hoorse;
]y isn't soothing my dictions somewhat coarse
Ire studied grammar and style poorly planned
But speak the only language that the Bosche understand
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05
Deleting a
Wilson Message

In addition to the censoring and inspir.
ing of matter designed for the press. the
Germans do not neglect third function
namely, the "doctoring" of news. Dis
patches from abroad are published only
after they have undergone a process of
"editing," which may take the form of the
elimination of significant passages of un-
fair translation, or of explanatory COM
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05
MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Associated Press exclusively entited TO tho
for republication OF all dispatches credited 10 1t
Otherwise credited in this and also the local
of spoi,taiieous origin published herein.
Al. rights republication OF all other matter herein
also
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05
Is 1t Coincidentala

(From The kaaSGs CffV SfGri ..-..i
The Kaiser has asked for new ns'''.
anthem for Germany. He must be p'e''' a,
TO move the watch further back iro" ~.
Rhine. Which, strangely enough eo'us''
almost exactly with our plans.
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05
Austria s Little Tollc

(Nrom The HrocI'ton Entorpriaej
Austria promised its soldiers that the
late offensive would be the last 1t was for
a lot of them.
New-York tribune., 1918-08-05
ClJA r AkIEE

You purchase merchandise advertised In THE
TRIBUNE with absolute safoty-for II dissatisfaction re-
suits in any THE TRIBUNE guarantees to pay your
money back request. No red tape. No oulhhling.
We make good promptly II the advertiser does not.