Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1919-05-09

mond was made secretary general OF
the league and the representatives OF
Brazil, Belgium, Greece and Spain
were selected temporarily to represent
the lesser powers. At once began the
making of plans for the first meeting
of the league, and it was admitted
that this would be held in Washington
in October next, in the White House
under the presidency of Mr.. Wilson
At that time the assembly will com
plete the organization and the nexi
session will be held in Geneva, the
permanent seat of the league.
Republican senators who are still
unsatisfied with the league covenant
and they are rather numerous-agreed
to hold a conference on the question
as soon as the president issued the
call for an extra session of congress
They are determined that the covenant
shall be further amended, and some
of them favor a plan to try to dis
sociate it from the peace treaty. The
latter. they agree, must not be unduly
delayed, and they are a unit in de
manding the early return of all Amer
lean troops from foreign lands. Halt
a dozen or more of the original OPP
ponents of the league in the senate
will support the amended covenant,
but some of the Republican leaders
occart %ho4 +h0ro ne cffII % on {hn
list of those who will not accept it.
Once more we are asked to believe
that the bolshevik regime in Russia
Is waning, and according to the story,
Lenine and Trotzky have sought in
vain for assurances of asylum in va
rious European countries. Petrograd
is being evacuated by the bolsheviki,
say dispatches from H~elsingfors. and
the government is sending away many
of the inhabitants. On their western
and northern fronts the soviet forces
leaders claimed these were counter
balanced by gains in the South.
The soviet government of Munich at
last accounts was still holding out,
but the city was being closely sur
rounded by troops of the German gov
eminent and the rule of the commu-
nists, it was said, was near its end.
Elsewhere in Germany it was the same
old story of repeated outbreaks of the
S%partacans, street fights and riots, and
strikes.
The sensation of the week in the
United States was the u~ncovering of
a grisly plot to assassinate leading
citizens in all parts of the country.
Several scores of cleverly constructed
bombs were mailed from New York
city to members of the cabinet, SEN
ators, representatives, judges and
wealthy men, and only the failure to
attach sufficient postage prevented the
murder or manning of many of the in
tended victims. Practically all of
those whose death was thus sought
have been concerned in some way
with the prosecution or deportation
of members of the 1. w. w. and other
radicals, so the source of the bombs
is not far to seek. The reds had
threatened a demonstration on May I
in behalf of Thomas j. Mooney and
others convicted of the San Francisco
bomb outrage, and Eugene v. Debs,
when Sent to prison for violating the
espionage act, had voiced a similar
threat. Investigation showed the
bombs had been mailed on different
days with the evident plan that they
should be received by the victims on
the same day. The Socialists denied
any part in the plot or any knowledge
of it, but its discovery and the general
feeling of indignation it aroused result
ed in the suppression of their plans for
elaborate May day celebrations in va
rious cities.
Two great disasters occurred last
week on opposite sides of the globe.
In San Salvador there was a severe
earthquake which resulted in great loss
of life and property, though its extent
is not yet fully known. A large sec
ton of Yokohama was swept by fire,
fully 1000 buildings being destroyed,
including part of the business district.
What might be regarded as a disas-
ter by many also hit the United States,
for the tax on luxuries went into eff
feet on May 1. This boosts the cost
on innumerable articles if the price is
in excess Of specified sums, and also
applies to soft drinks, druggists sun
dries, candy and other things that have
become almost necessities for many
Americans.