New Britain herald., 1918-03-02
Henry Cleu's
 Weekly Leffer
Especial to The Herald)

l Especial to The Herald)
 l New York, March 2.---The stock
 exchange market is displaying a SUD- 1 Stantlal undertOnc, which may be 1 considered all the more significant in ! VleW or the discouraging reports that Suil are coming forward from Russia. ] The collapse of all government in that l unfortunate country is not more i'm { portant as a fundamental financial l factor than that the true aims of con- i quest have been so clearly and frank 1 ly displayed by the Prussian military 1 party, to which all other enemy in 1 tereSts are admittedly Subservicnt. Hopes entertained in various circles put short time ago that the closer ] meeting Of ideas as expressed in the more recent formal addresses of Press ldcnt Wilson and by the official rep resentativcs of the British French, German and Austrian governments would in the near future mean actual and formal peace negotia tions arc perhaps not today held quite so con f1dentlE. The decision of the PruS- sian military party to continue it's policy of conquest after the BolsheviE representatives had uneQuivocally agreed to the peace terms imposed upon them hardly can fail to pro- duce a new chasm of division. Ob~ ViouSly, negotiations would be mere waste of time Wbon one party to a contract is so fagrantly violating all
 promises and assurances-is indeed openly and frankly disregarding all
 principles of honesty and right War
 can end only when victory for free
 dom and civilization has been achieved.
 The sudden turn of affairs in Russia seems to contain some threat of tenn
 porary delay for such a victory Yet an opposite result does not appear altogether improbable. Reports from Austria-tTungary suggest a difference
 of principle and of purpose and a de-
 sire to end the war on more honor able terms. The promptness with
 which the recent labor troubles in
 Germany were suppressed dimnishes appreciably the hope that aid in fore
 ing a proper peace may at this time
 be relied upon from within Germany
 itself But Austrian influence and,
 beyond that, the basic fact that such a large army will be required to pro-
 tcct communication with the German invaders, may after all become real
 factors in restoring conditions to a
 point where peace shall come more clearly into view. Undoubtedly there is greater latitude for negotiations be tween Washington and Vienna. than
 Washington and Berlin. It appears to be in this direction that we must look for evidences of real disposition of the enemy toward peace.
 As to Russia the situation is a bad one--it could hardly be worse. At the same time the solution must be ap- preached from broad viewpoint. So
 cialstic illusions arc rapidly being de stroyed. llliteracy is so great that an effective method of promulgating prompt news Of failure is not avail able This is an unfortunate handl- cap. But Russia eventually will pull itself together. It is a vast empire
 It's people are subject to classification by groups: they are divided by cll- matic, racial and numerous other con alterations The educated classes, recognizing fully these primal handi- caps of a. united nation, feel that the solution must in time be reached by the turning of the new republic along lines similar to our own, which will always stand out so clearly as an ex- ample for other people when they come to understand the difference be- tween freedom and license. Russia tOdav needs such q form of govern ment It's various states or provinces need sclf-g government on lines corres- bonding with their own peculiar re- ouirements. But they must be sub feet in matters of national defense, of foreign trade and similar matters to a central government. This is unques- tionably the ultimate solution Of the Russian question.
 At the moment, however, it is the immediate rather than the remote Russian situation which must be 1 recognized as a factor in. the financial l situation. Germans and Austrians 1 who have been prisoners in Russia l have been released. They thus are added to the enemy's fighting 1 strength But the Allies are more l than their equal and are awaiting the 1 supreme drive" on the Western 1 front--a drive which has been so | spectacularly advertised that it would l not be surprising if it were @ cover | for an entirely different plan. Mean while American troops. are crossing ! the Atlantic in large numbers and l are adding to the strength of our 1 Allies.
 All departments of our national ac
 tivities are deferrinS to the necessi- ! ties of war. The administra tion's ] railroad bilI which will permit the l administration to carry out the broad | minded plan of railroad control, al- 1 ready has passed both houses of con- 1 gross. The administration plans ] arc so well knoWn that they do not 1 need repeating. .A% . broad proposal | they assure stockholders of sufficient | revenues, regardless of increased eX- pcnditures of all kinds which have l resulted from the war. to justify the 1 belief that dividends which have been | 1egitimately earned in the past will 1