Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-02-15


the mines oruer TO take the railway.
The Tartars occupied Yalta, in the
government of Taurida, and were ad-
vancing to S~ebastopol, the great naval
base on the Black sea.
Adding to their own troubles, the
bolsheviki decreed the separation of
church and state and seized all church
property for the people, which aroused
the patriarch of Russia to excommuni-
cate some of them and to call for a
holy war.
An unconfirmed report said Polish
troops had captured Mohilev, head
quarters of the bolsheviki army, and
Krylenko and his staff.
A deadlock oyer the question of the
Ukraine put an end, for the present
at least, to the peace negotiations at
Brest-Litovsk. The Germans, 1t was
said, then demanded their terms be ac-
cepted at once, threatening otherwise
to march on Petrograd. The Russian
soldiers council at Moscow called on
the government to form a volunteer
socialist army and continue resistance.
Meanwhile economic and food condi-
tons in Petrograd and other parts of
Russia are growing steadily worse.
It is quite evident that Trotzky has
been counting on a real revolution Of
the workers of Germany. and it is
equally evident that no such revolution
Is forthcoming in the neal future. The
widespread strikes which were hailed
with joy by the foolishly optimistic
were quickly crushed by the military
power of the government, many of the
leaders forced into the army and the
rank and file of the workers driven
back to their labor. In this internal
struggle the German autocracy seem
ingly did not yield a single point to the
democracy, though some effect of the
strikes may appear in the future. The
radical leaders in the empire are not
backing water, any more than are their
autocratic opponents, and the situation
there is still critical.
b
AS q substitute for the war cabinet
and munitions directorate bills which
he so firmly opposes, President VIII
son on Wednesday had introduced In
the senate by Senator Overman a bill
designed to do away with bureaucratic
inefficiency and to give the chief exec
utive vast powers. 1t was drafted for
Mr.. Wilson by the attorney general
and authorizes the president during
the war to distribute, coordinate, con-
soIidate and otherwise reorganize any
and all existing administrative func-
tons and agencies and create such
new agencies as he deems necessary
for the conduct of the war. He is also
authorized to transfer appropriations
from one department. bureau or COM
mission to any other agency he may
designate.
Those who support the measure say
II, properly confers on the president,
as commander in chief of the nations
armed forces, whatever power he
deems necessary to perform his task
with efficiency. Other congressman
declared the bill actually creates a mil
itary dictatorship. There doesn't seem
to be much difference between these
two views.
ia
Ships, ships and more ships, is still
the cry of the United States and the
entente allies, and all are agreed that
ultimate victory hangs largely on the
ability of America to turn out the re-
1.t~oJ ooaNr,nf af Annon no RI froncnNrt
it's troops and the immense quantities
of food and munitions necessary. The
present lack is not shipyards and ma
terial, but labor. Already the govern
ment is operating great yards on both
coasts, and others are being rapidly
completed, but even those now in op-
Grafton are working but n shift of
men where three should be worked.
The appeal for laborers In the yards
is urgent and should meet with ample
response, not only for patriotic rea-
sons, but for selfish reasons. too, for
the pay assured is large. The United
States now has in all services about
1000. 900 IONS of shipping, approx
mately one-fourth of which is engaged
in bringing in materials that have been
considered industrial essentials. The
government is considering a plan to
make q 80 per cent reduction In imports
by eliminating articles that are not es-
sential 10 the winning of the war. This
would help some, and Of course the
allies can supply a certain amount Of
tonnage, but there will still be left a
wide discrepancy between the availa-
BILE amount of shipping and the amount
we must have in order that Secretary
Bakers promise of half a million men
in Europe by spring and a million and