The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922, August 17, 1917, Image 6

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    THE SEMI WEEKLY TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA.
1M THE IfMffliMir
WW y f (GOT G
in plain wm
Dean Shaikr Mathews of Chicago University
shows how the Kaiser and his militarist gang
pounced on democratic world like a wolf pack
lKklnn being an author, editor. cl rgynutti, .tnu wluc jiui, iu...
Ittathewu Ik a member of the National Security iw;ih- m committed orga
Inlzed to Hpread throiiKhout the United Htaten Information on the cauaen
of our war with Germany. The committee was formed bocaime of a prer
olsnt belief that many Americana were unfamiliar. with the extent of our
wrlovmicen and the reason why war could not be uvolded. Doctor
Mathews Ik known an a student of International polltlon. In 19115 h and
tor. S. U dtillck wont to Japan a representative of tlio churehen of the
United States.
. (From New York Times Magazine.)
AMERICA need to be told why It Is nt war, Its
Ignorance la to lta credit. A nation tlmt Iihh tried to
live like h gentleman among nations lias naturally
found It difficult to belluve that nil nutlons are not
moved by respect for the customs und the Inwa which
codify gentlemanly relatione between tuitions.
We have at tltnen overpraised our virtues and pur
poses, and In consequence for the last generation wo
have listened with a rather amused tolerance to suc
cessive proclamations of the kaiser and the laudation
of Germany by subsidized mouthpieces. After wur
broke out In 1014 for two years we struggled to treat
Germany nnd Us agents as wo expected other nations
to treat ourselves.
Our attitude might have characterized the Good
Samaritan If ho hud come upon the robbers holding
up tno traveler, and schooled himself to believe that
tho wholo affair was exaggerated. We simply could not realize the
Gorman attitude of mind. Accustomed as many of us bait been to
interpret the finer ldenl life of Germany, we could not believe that men
like Euckcn, Harnuck, Herrmann, and Dlessmann could freely mid
-without reserve lend themselves to the defense of that which was un
worthy of their words as wo bad understood them.
Against our will wo have been disillusioned. We have not gone
Into war, wo havo hud war thrust upon us. A chain of circumstances
ovor which wo have had no control has brought
liomo to tho Americans, anxious to maintain their
faith In Germany, the conviction that America's
sovereignty wua being outraged, Its people killed,
its Inner peace deliberately attacked, and Its Insti
tutions, founded In snctiflco and offered to tho
world, not only despised but In dangor of destruc
tion. Germany has forced America, as It has forced
Almost tho entire world, to defend Itself by arms.
Nobody but those suffering from myopic idealism
nympathlcs can see anything else. Sonio of us
linvo suffered when tho scales hnvo fallen cut
away by facts. At last wo see clearly. Wo have
not been drawn Into tho war by capitalism, or by
commercialism, or by national policy. For mouths
wo1 havo been living In a state of war, deliberately
planned by a nation whose leaders for ten years
liavo been preparing some day to fight America
nnd who have counted our good nuturo its cow
nrdlcc, our unpreparedness as a lack of uutlonul
nelf-respcct.
Hero nro tho facts:
Wo are lighting this war, In tho first place, be
causo Germany made war upon us.
For years she bus sought to build up In Amor
lea a community more loyal to herself than to tho
United States. Money hits been lavishly spent In
Gcrmanlstlc societies, alliances, and associations
to win the admiration und loyalty of American
citizens. Our universities havo been flattered,
our professors have been honored for this ren
hou. Praise of tho kaiser has been Inserted oven
In the spelling books of our public school system.
Spies have been everywhere.
When the war came In 1014 German officials,
mnny of them In high diplomatic positions, treat
ed tho United States, a noutral nation, us If It
were an enemy. Pro-Gorman publications wero
founded and subsidized, strikes wero organized,
manufacturing plants wero blown up, plots
against nations with whom we hud treaty rela
tions wero formed within our borders, bombs
wore placed on ships In our ports. Hatred of
America was systematically disseminated through
Gerroauy and efforts wero mudo to Involve us In
trouble with Japan nnd Mexico.
In reply to our repeated protests against thcao
nnd other acts of Germany, to bo mentioned pres
ently, we havo received promises atul explana
tions which wero little less than Insults. The
treaty that had existed almost tho entire life of
tho American republic was set nt naught and
efforts wero mudo to coerco us Into fnvorabjo
modifications of Its terms.
The right of trado with belligerents, which Ger
many had always claimed, oven to tho benefit of
our enemy In tho war with Spain, and which nt
Germany's own Inslstcnco Is universally recog
nized In International' law, was treated as tho
violation of our neutrality and alliance with her
enemies. And, finally, the proclamation of unre
stricted destruction of neutral ships upon tho
filgh Reus was n notification to tho United States
that it wus no longer a sovereign people, but
that If It would sail tho seas In safety It must
conform to conditions set by a power that defied
International luw, humanity, and elemental mor
ality. I In the second place wo aro defending ourselves
ngnlnut Germany becauso tho Gorman state has
entered upon a program which means tho destruc
tion of democratic Institutions.
Tho Prusslanlzatlon of Gertuany moans that the
policy of Prussia to carry on economic atid po
litical expunslon by war Is to bo extended
throughout tho entire world.
Wo roeognlzd tlmt there wero once,
OS m : 41
c
BENEFITED BY AMERICAN TRAINING
Sir Eric Campbei: Geddes, who
'has been appointed new first lord of
itbo British admiralty, succeeding Sir
jEdwurd Carson, Is one of the handful
(of great Britishers who emerged out
of comparative obscurity with the nd
'vent of tho war. Until hostilities be-
'gan he was scarcely known outside of
Jrnllroad circles, and American railroad
(men knew him best, for It was In the
lUnlted States that he got his training.
The new first lord Is a Scotsman,
;born la India, but owes his abili
ty In a large degree to his Amcrlcnn
.training. Ho Is only forty-one years
old.
Ho spent n year In the nomestend i
mills In Pittsburgh, and backed that
experience with three years In the
employ of the Baltimore nnd Ohio
railroad.
When Lloyd George took the post
of minister of munitions In 1015 he
mnrln Kir V.ro hla nrlnolnnl lieutenant.
or director general. In that post ho controlled the supply of heavy guns, small
arms, munitions, etc.
Sir Douglas Hulg had him trSisferred to Franco ns director genernl of
transportation. He was knighted only last year.
-!
POWERFUL RECRUIT FOR RED CROSS.
Ih built from tho Baltic to the Persian gulf.
Great Britain was mnllgned and threatened with
destruction. South America was In part colon
ized by Germans, and tho Monroe doctrine wus
repeatedly threatened.
The highest authorities In Japan have repeat
edly said that German Intrigues wero endeavor
ing to bring about misunderstanding, if not war,
between Japan and the United States.
As far back as 1003 representative Germans
frankly said that Germany would have to fight
America becauso It was Germany's commercial
rival. In Samoa and tho Philippines German In
terference twice at least brought us to the verge
of war. Had It not been for Grent Brltnln, which
hns alwayH recognized American policy In the
Western Hemisphere and submitted disputes to
arbitration, German arrogance nnd ambition
would have years ago brought on the crisis.
With tho commercial expunslon of European
nations, the United States has no quarrel. If,
however, such expansion Is bused, guarded, nnd
enforced by tho threat of wnr, the United States
can see tho machlnntlous of men who nro tllslr
ous of oxpanblon at the expense of tho rights of
other nations.
Since the outbrenk of the European wnr, the
ruthlessness of this German hostility to other na
tions, nnd particularly to those that have regard
for International law and really representative
government, Is apparent. Wo have seen treaties
disregarded whenever they stood In the way of
German militaristic plans. We bnve seen con
quered Btntcs treated with, a brutality worthy of
Assyria. We have seen a policy of terrorism ap
plied systematically In the abuso of prisoners, tho
massacring nnd deportation of civilian popula
tions, tho Indescribable abuse of women and chil
dren, the destruction of noblest works of art, tho
devastation of abandoned regions, the wholesale
execution of Poles, Bohemians, and Serbians; the
Incitement of Mohnmmeduns to a holy war, and
tho permission of nn attempted extermination of
tho Christian people of Armenia.
We havo seen hospital ships sunk, unfortified
towns bombed and bombarded. Wo have seen n
medal struck In honor of the sinking of the Lusl
tanlu.. Up to the duto In which we finally recog
nized that Germany was wuglng wnr upon us we
had seen 220 American citizens, among them many
women nnd children, killed by German subma
rines. Altogether, on the first of April, 1017. wo
DRIED EGGS TO
U. S. FROM CHINA
had seen no fewer than 008 neutral ships sunk by
submarine warfare.
We saw Germany preclpltntlng this world war,
In which she hns used poison nnd fire, ns a part
of her official policy nt a moment when In tho
opinion of her leaders she Judged the rest of tho
world tp be unready to defend Itself against an
nttack for which Germany had been preparing
for 40 yenrs.
The plain cataloguo of facts makes It plain
why America Is fighting to defend Itself nnd democ
racy. Wo have entered the wnr prlmnrlly In self
defense. To havo done anything less would bnve
been to surrender our sovereignty nnd to linye
waited passively until the German program had
been so far carried out nnd tho truly modern nn
tlons of Europe so weakened that we In our
unpreparedness would have been forced to fight
a rnpaclous, conscienceless mllltnry autocracy,
whose ends In war nro avowedly Indemnities, ag
grandizement, and the control of the world. Our
alignment Inevitably was with and for democracy.
An epoch of civilization hangs In the balance.
Not to have co-operated with n world that Is en
deavoring to protect Itself nnd Its futuro from
Germany with Its mllltnrlstlc autocracy, Its ter
rorism, and Its disregard of International law, rm.Q biggest constructive job since
that noblest product of civilization, would hnvo ,the building 0f the Panama canal, the
Another addition to the business
executives enlisted In the service of
the Red Cross during the war was
made when John D. Ryan, president
of tho Anaconda Copper company, wns
appointed as director- general of mili
tary relief.
Mr. Ryan will have supervision of
the bureau of medical service, the bu
reau of nursing service and the bu- ,
rcau of supplies. The maintenance of
50 or more base hospitals will be ouo,
of the large tasks which will be laid
Immediately before him.
He bus the position of director
general of military relief nnd will bo
In charge of all relief work for tho
fighting forces.
Mr. Ryan succeeds Col. Jefferson
R. Kean, who hns been ordered to
take commund of the 1G0 United States
army ambulance sections in the war
theater.
The mllltnry relief department
was organized by Colonel Kean In 1010 nnd In the past few months ho has
built up, through It, a great machine for relief work at the front. It was
because of his Intimate knowledge of this work that tho war department
made him commander of the army ambulance sections, which were first to
carry the American ting to the fighting lines.
DIRECTED TO BUILD MERCHANT MARINE
been a bid for suicide.
Wo do not fight for aggrandizement, or Indem
nity, or the forclblo Imposition of our Institutions
upon any country; wo fight for self-protection.
We do not fight to further British nmbltlons or
French schemes of colonlzntlon. .Wo are fighting
for tho Institutions which with vnrylng degrees
havo spread from America all over tho world ex
cept Germnny, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and
Bulgaria.
Our success will make it possible, wo believe,
not only for our children and our children's chll
dron to enjoy pence, but for German liberalism
to mnster the forces which for nenrly n century
have been Its oppressor.
Tho American Revolution preserved In Amcrlcn
and In England the liberty that goes with Inde
pendence. Our Civil wnr nssured tho future of
democratic Institutions In our united nation. The
present war Is not born of our Independence, but
of our Interdependence among those nntlons who
have dedlcnted themselves to the task of seeing
that government of the people, by the people, nnd
for the people shall not perish from tho earth.
and wo
daro believe oven now that thoro are, two Gor
nuinys, one liberal and the other an autocracy
based ou militarism. Th- stiugglo botweon those
two forces since 1815 has boon a steady subjugn
tloi of liberalism In Prussia tuid the other Gor
muu states to the -will of a Prussian feudal no
bility. Representative and responsible govern
ment In any truo sense of tho word has been
fought by Prussian lenders relentlessly. Educa
tion has been made a crcaturo of autocracy and a
source of International hatred.
Tho same fato bus mot every land Prusulunlsin
bus touched. Austria was beaten Into submission
tu 1800, and all the other Germiiu stntos wero
made practically subject to tho will of tho Hohen
Kollerns betweon that dato und 1870. Franco was
robbed and humiliated. Tho Balkan states wero
kept In perennial war In tho interests of Gcrmtin
oxpanston. Bohemia und Poland hnvo been treut
cd with tho snmo disregard of popular rights as
has been Alsace-Lorraine. Turkey became n vas
unl of the kaiser. A great militaristic, nutl
'dcmocratlc state Hko southern Germany, sub
Hrviont to Prussia, tons been started and all but
Imports of eggs products this yonr have amount
ed to about 10,000,000 pounds, valued on the aver
ago nt obout 15 cents a pound. Tbeso products
are Imported ehlelly from Japan and China and
Include eggs that havo been dried, frozen or pow
dered. They nro used In this country principally
by1 bakora In the manufacture of various kinds of
pastry.
Tho consumption of Asiatic egg products In this
country bus grently Increased lu recent yenrs, und
therefore tho conditions under which they aro
prepared become of greater Intorest totho public.
The operation of a model plant nt Shnfighul Is de
scribed as follows:
"Tho eggs are received at the door of tho fac
tory In baskets containing approximately 1,000
eggs, and ns the factory offers bettor prices for
choice eggs It Is securing the highest class of egg
producV'd within a circle of probably a 100-mllo
radius. Tho eggs aro brought Into tho examining
room, where the contents of the baskets aro gone
over uml all cracked or otherwise damaged eggs
are separated. The oggs aro thon candled by
Chinese, who pass them boforo tho candling lamps
at tho rate of BOO un hour. Tho handling rooms
are kept In n tempernturo not exceeding 50 degrees
Fahrenheit, the range of tomporature In the build
ing, used both for freezing and for drying eggs,
being from zero to upward of 100 degrees Fahren
heit In tho freezing and drying rooms, respectively.
"From tho candling rooms tho fresh eggs with
unbroken Bhells aro taken to the breaking room,
which In point of sanitary appliances and atten
tion to details of porsonnl hygiene scarcely Is sur
passed by tho operating room of n hospital. In
fact, tho general effect of tlAs room, aside from its
low temperature, Is that of a well-ordered hos
pital, but with ten white-capped and aproned
nurses whero the" ordinary hospital would have but
one. Tho factory now employs 100 girls, each of
whom 1b expected to break and separate from 1,500
to 2,000 eggs a day of 12 hours. Owing to the fac
tory paying higher wnges than other similar plants
nnd working qnly six days a week Instead of seven,
which Is the rule of tho cotton mills and silk fila
tures of Shanghai, It can pick and choose In Its
labor, so that the type of girl employed In the egg
breaking room Is far above the standard of any
other Chlneso factory, and a composlto picture of
them all probably would come nearer tho Chlneso
Idea of feminine beauty thnn any otbor 100 girls
that can bo found In Shanghai.
As the workers enter In tho morning they nro
drossed In freshly sterilized clothing furnished by
tho factory, und after their nails aro manicured
they aro allowed to proceed to the workroom.
Tho breaking room Is solid concrete and Is
sterilized each day as carofully as tho operating
room of a hospital. The girls are seated on metal
stools at low zinc tables. Before ouch of them Is
a curious appliance which mechanically separates
the white of the egg from the yolk. Tho girl takes
an ogg froiif'the can, Into which, they havo been
counted by the candlers, and with tho right hand
cracks It on the bur of the separating machine.
The breaking Is then finished by n dexterous move
ment of the fingers, which pormlts tho egg to drop
Into n shallow cup, where the yolk Is caught und
tho white allowed to drain off tho sides.
Tho drying room Is described ns embodying all
the latest features In the sanitary handling of this
product, Tho air used In tho drying process Is
thoroughly filtered, being forced through tho dry
ing nppurntus under heavy steam pressure. The
'ugg yolks or whites come out of tho dryer In Unices,
which are allowed to cool to a tomporature slightly
above the freonlng point. Then tho product goes
to tho packing room, whero It Is placed In boxes
lined with waxed piper, which aro stonclled and
nuulo ready for shipment.
For the freezing of eggs tho separation nnd
straining nro carried out Just as for tho manufac
ture of dry yolks, only after the straining tho large
cans nro taken to the freezing chambers. Hero
the tempernturo Is kept closo to zero, Fahrenheit,
task of fitting together n fleet of mer
chantmen that is to save Europe from
hunger, und possibly starvation, has
been turned over to a Chicago man
Edward N. Hurley.
Edward N. Hurley was picked,
probably, because of his record or
achievement. He Is not a politician. lie
Is a business man. It Is not so many
years ago that be was sitting on the'
throttle side of an engine cnb for the
Chicago, Burlington nnd Qulncy rnlj
road. From this position he steppe"
into n salesman's Job for the United
States Metallic Packing company, of
which concern he soon beenme man
ager. For this enterprise he originated
nnd developed the pneumatic tool In
dustry of tho United States and Eu
rope. Ho Is tho executive head nnd prin
cipal stockholder of several manufacturing nnd Industrial concerns that havo
sprung from the development of this Industry. Ills Interests, however, are
6o diversified that they Include banking and railroading as well, and havo so
broadened his outlook that his reports on his different studies of trade condl-:
tlons and credits aro regarded as some of the most authoritative contributions
t? the literature of American commerce.
Mr, nurley hns long been nn advocate of an enormous merchnnt marine
for the United States to open up neglected trade channels. And now he lias
been assigned to build It.
NAVAL CONSTRUCTOR PRACTICAL MAN
When Secretary Daniels Informed,
Rear Admiral Washington Lee Capps
that the president bad selected him to
Itulld the merchant lleets that wo must
have If the U-boats are to bo con
quered, a shipbuilder bad succeeded an
engineer in n Job upon which tho des
tiny of democracy depends.
Admiral Cnpps will build ships In
quantities desired, on order, for build
ing ships, one way or another, has
been his steady Job for 30 years. Ho
Is n practical man, and as chief con
structor of tho navy hns the Inner
most details of every yard In the coun
try that bears the slightest resem
blance to a shipbuilding plant In the
grasp of his two hands.
Tho work upon which Admiral
Cnpps has been omployed slnco tho
now nuyal building program went Into
effect a' year and a half ago Is directly
In lino with that which ho will havo to
do now In his new position. A mnu with
an International reputation as a naval constructor und ndmlnlstrntor. his fail
ure In n post "or which he has been trained by yenrs of practical service,
could como aboiit only through politics and disagreements with associates,
from which ho has the Instinct to steer clear. Ho will take orders and obey
them, although he will not surrender a professional opinion.
His selection will havo an excellent effect upon the country, which would
have resented tho virtual removal of the builder of tho Panama canal If his
tnnnnr imii nob been a man of high professional standing, fully acquainted
niul tho separate whites and yolks are poured Into .with the construction of ships nid ready to go ahead under full steam In the
cans standing on racks tlmt line tho walls of tin, prosecution of nn enterprise that had been standing still for so long a tlmo
that It was beginning to be possible to cnicmnie neiay in terms oi nurann
blood.
fivcrJng chamber.
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