Middletown transcript., 1918-07-20

he American commanders recently pre-
~~~~~~~~~~-~~
been arrested and many of them, in
Guiding 80 socialist members of parlia-
ment, executed. Because of the num-
erous executions there, he said, the
town of Sveaborg has been renamed
GOlgOtha. Finland is on the point of
starvation, despite its German friends,
and General Mannerheim, commander
Of the Finnish army, asked Mr.. Nor
ris, American minister to Sweden,
what chance there was for Finland to
get food from the United States. Mr..
Morris told him plainly it was very
slim so long as Germany held the
country under her control. Ostensibly
as a measure to save food, the Finnish
government has ordered the expulsion
of all Jews.
~
When the news came of the assas-
sination of Count Won Mirbach, Ger.
man ambassador to Russia. in Mos
cow, at the instigation Of a group Of
social revOlutionists, there were
many predictions that the kaiser
would get revenge by sending great
army to occupy the chief Russian
cities, and indeed it was semi-ofi1cial
ly stated in Berlin that such would be
his course. But after breaking off
diplomatic relations the chief Hun ap-
parently thought better of it and a
mild statement was issued hoping
that the Russian government and peo-
pie will succeed in nipping the pres
ent revolutionary agitation in the
bud" It is not easy to see how Ger
many would gain much by further
grabbing in distracted and starving
Russia.
The pan-German party triumphed
over its opponents and forced the
resignation Of Foreign Minister Won
Kuehlmann because of his peace i'm
possible by force" speech, and then
proceeded to pick Admiral Won Hintze,
the trickiest and most disreputable of
Teuton diplomats, as his successor.
Great excitement in the reichstag re-
suited and the socialists agreed not to
vote. the war credit, which could not
be passed without their aid, until the
new minister had announced his pol
icies. Won Hintze is swashbuckling
militarist and the creature of Admiral
an tn Ac.v NSv,s~ % II,
disgraced himself, and as minister to
Mexico he deliberately stirred up
row between Huerta and Carranza in
order to elnbroil the United States.
The French press accepts the selec-
ton of Won Hintze as evidence that
the militarists in Germany are strong
err than the diplomats and are deter
mined upon war to the finish. They
believe he will do the Germans
much more harm than good.
~
Military operations of prime impOr-
tance last week were confined to Al
bania, field of which little has been
heard for long time. There the
Italians and French got very busy and,
with the aid of British naval forces
In the Adriatic, started an offensive
that met with considerable success
and is still progressing as this is writ
ten. Within few days the allied
forces had advanced more than twen-
ty-five miles on battle front sixty
miles long. had captured Fieri, an i'm
portant town eight miles from the
Adriatic, and had practically sur
rounded Berat, the chief city of south
ern Albania. They also had occupied
mountain positions Of great strategic
value. Before the week closed the
Austrians had evacuated Berat.
This Albanian offensive was counted
on to have great political effect. es-
pecially in Austria Hungary and
among the small nations of the Bal
kans. Already it had caused evident
among the forces of the
central powers that face the allies
from the Adriatic to Saloniki. In
they made several costly
and vain attacks on the allies. The
objective Of the allies in Al
bania is the Shkumbi valley and the
old Roman road, the Via Egnatia,
leading to the Vartar valley and open
ing the way to movement toward the |
east that would outfank the enemy |
north of Monastir.
II the Austrians are decisively de- !
feated in this region the kaiser may |
force them to accept Won Below as
their generalissimO, despite their pro-
tests. The efforts to Germanize the
general headquarters have
stirred up the already angry people
OF the dual kingdom. Another row
there has been caused by more or less
open assertions that Empress Zita
ruined the offensive on Italy by pre-
the use of gas and otherwise
the commanders. A big