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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 1917)
Klpr^sid^nt Wilson States U.S. War Aims | Wash.n.gtc.ii, D. C„ Deo. 4.—The pres 9 [dent spoke as follows: • Gentlemen of the Congress— %f. ■ Eight months have elapsed since I K lfi;.L liad the honor of addressing you. ■ I y!:':v have been months crowded with R t.v nts of immense and grave signifi V e for us. I will not undertake to K detail. or even to summarize, those ■ events, or the part we have played in H y_thtm. This will lie laid before you in p the reports of the executive nepart ^ mints. I shall discuss only our present outlook upon these vast affairs, our pr sent duties and the immediate means of accomplishing the objects we shall hold always in view. War Aim Is to Win. "T shall not so back to debate the •causes of the war. The intolerable wrong's done and planned against us by the sinister masters of Germany have long since become too grossly obvious and odious to every true Amer ican to need to be rehearsed. But I shall ask vou to consider again and with a very grave scrutiny our objec tives and the measures by which we mean to attain them for the purpose of • discussion here in this place is action and our action must move straight to wards definite ends. Our object is of course to win the war. and we shall not slacken or suffer ourselves to be diverted until it is won. But it is w, rth while asking and answering the question 'when shall we consider the war won?’ Safe to Let Pacifists Strut. “From one point of view it Is not necessary to broach this fundamental matter I do not doubt that the Ameri y vnu people kno what the war is about I end what sort of an outcome they will & regard as a realization of their pur T pose in it. As a nation we are united \ir, spirit and intention. I pay little heed to those who tell me otherwise. I hear the voices of dissent—who does not? I hear the criticism and the clamor of the noisy, thoughtless and trouble some. I also hear men here and there flmg themselves in impotent disloyalty e, i:nst the calm, indomitable power of a tli" nation. I hear men debate peace ak t who understand neither its nature nor ■P'S tiie way in which we may attain it, f ''■'*•!>.uplifted eyes and unbroken spirits. ■ But I know that none of these speaks ■ for the nation They do not touch the BL ''fart of anything. They may safely be E^ left to strut their uneasy hour and be ’ forgotten. "But from another point of view I believe that it is necessary to say plain ly what we hero at the seat of action consider the war to be for and what part we mean to play in the eettlement of its •Searching issues. We are the spokesmen of the American people and they have a right to know whether their k purpose is ours. Thev desire peace by the overcoming of evil, by the defeat, H once for all, of the sinister forces that interrupt peace and render it impos sible, and they wish to know how close ly our thought runs with theirs and what action we propose. They are im patient with those who desire peace by any sort of compromise—deeply and indignantly impatient, but they will be equally impatient with us if we do not make it plain to them what our objec tives are and what we are planning for 1 In see,king to make conquest of peace by arms. Peaco Terms Are Stated. "1 believe that ) speak for them when 0* 1 ■'•'•'iv two things: Fit'sl. that tiiis intolerable thing of w which the masters of Germany have jjfe shown tin ti e ugly face, this menace of combim d intrigue and force which we :J now see so clearly as the German power, a thing without conscience or I honor or capacity for covenanted peace, must be crushed, and if it be not Utterly brought to an end, at least shut out from tile friendly intercourse of the nations; and. second, that when this i thing a: I its power are indeed defeated and tuc linn: eou.es that we can discuss pence-—when the German people have spokesmen whoso word we can believe, and when those spokesmen are ready in the name of their people to accept the common judgement of the nations as to what shall henceforth be tiie bases of law and of covenant for the life of ' he wo: I I -tv sl.nl! lie willing and glad o pry the full i rice for peace and pay jt .ir.gradgin iv. We know what that pro o will be. it will be full, impartial (justice—ju^iiee done at every point ■1 to otery nation. The final settle nt must affect our enemies as well s our friends. Against Punitive Indemnities. "Vou catch, with men, the voices of humanity that are in the air. They grow daily more audible, more articu late, more persuasive, and they come %fon .the 1'-;u ts of men everywhere. ■They insist that the war shall not end itk vindictive action of any kind: that ' no nation or people shall be robbed or punished b' C'. se the irresponsible rul ers of a i ingle , (.entry have themselves done drop and abominable wrong, it is tiiis till, i. h: that has been expressed in tin* furumia, no annexations, no con tribute' is, no punitive indemnities," just lie ..'’m this crude formula ex presses the instinctive judgment as to right of plain men everywhere, it has beta made diligent use of by the mas ters of G.u-man intrigue to lead the peo ple of Russia astray—and the people of every country their agents could read), in order that a premature peace \ might lie brought about before outo i craov lies been taught its final and con vincing lesson, and the people of the world put in control of their own des tines. Declares idea Is Good. "But the fact that a wrong use has been made of a just idea, is no reason why a right use should not he made of i it. It ought to be brought under the patronage <>f its friends. Let it be , said again that autocracy must first be j shown the utter futility of its claims to power or leadership in the modern world, it is impossible to apply any standard of justice so long as such forces are unchecked and undefeated as the present masters of Germany command. Not until that has been done < an right be set up as arbiter and 1 peacenia r among nations. Hut when S trtl.t l as been done—as God willing, it N . assuredly will bo- we shall at last be ii) free t" do on unprecedented thing, and this Is the time to avow our purposes to do it. We shall be free to has peace on generosity and justice, to the ex clusion of all selfish claims to ad van e, oven on the .part of victors. Determined to Win War. . “Let there he no misunderstanding. Our present and immediate task is to win the war and nothing shall turn us aside from it until it is accomplished. Every power and resource we possess, whether of men, of money, or of mate rials, is being devoted and will continue ; to be devoted to that purpose until it is achieved. Those who desire to bring peace about before that purpose is achieved I counsel to carry their ad > vice efacwhere. We will not entertain it. "We el#.i regard the war as won only whei>3i<he German people say to us, 1 throu^t properly accredited represent- j at iyes. that they are ready to agree to a ! fipG’ement based upon justice and the j i re, at ion of the wrongs their rulers j have done. They have done a wrong ■ to Belgium, which must be repaired. Tbfw h«ve established a power over] other lands and peoples than their own — over the fit empire of Austria Hungary, over hitherto free Balkan states, over Turkey and within Asia— which must be relinquished. Germany’s Exploits Reviewed. "Germany’s success by skill, by in dustry, by knowledge, by enterprise, we did not grudge or oppose, but admired rather. She had built up for herself a real empire of trade and influence, se cured by the peace of the world. We were content to abide the rivalries of manufacture, science, tmd commerce that were involved for us In her .suc cess and stand or fall as we had or did not have the brains and the initiative to surpass her. But at the moment when she had conspicuously won her triumphs of peace she threw them away to establish in their stead what the world will no longer permit to be established, military and political dom ination by arms, by which to oust where should could not excel the rivals she most feared and hated. The peace we make must remedy that wrong. It must deliver the once fair lands and happy peoples of Belgium and northern France from the Prussian conquest and the Prussian menace, but it must also deliver the peoples of Austria-Hungary, the peoples of the Balkans and the peo ple of Turkey, alike in Europe and in Asia, from the impudent and alien dom ination of the Prussian military and commercial autocracy.' “We owe it, however, to our selves to say that wo do not wish in any way to impair or to rear range the Austro-Hungarian em pire. It is no affair of ours what they do with their own life, either industrially or politically. We do i not purpose or desire to dictate to them in any way. We only desire to see that their affairs are left in their own hands, in all matters, great or small. We shall hope to secure for the peoples of the Bal kan peninsula and for the peoole of Turkish empire the right and op portunity to make their own lives safe, their own fortunes secure against oppression or injustice and from the dictation of foreign courts or parties. And our attitude and purpose with regard to Germany herself are of a like kind. We in tend no wrong against the German empire, no interference with her internal affairs. We should deem I either the one or the other abso- I lutely unjustifiable, absolutely con- ' trary to tho principles we have professed to live by and to hold most sacred throughout our life as a nation. No Threat Against Germany. “The people of Germany arc being told by the men whom they now per mit to deceive them and to act as their masters, that they are fighting for the very life and existence of their empire: a war of desperate self de fense against deliberate aggression. Nothing could be more grossly or wan tonly false and we must seek by the utmost openness and candor as to our real aims to convince them of its falseness. We are. in fact, fighting for their emancipation from fear, along witli our own, from the fear as well as from the fact of unjust attack by neighbors or rivals or schemers after world empire. No one is threatening the existence or the independence of the peaceful enterprise of th German empire. “The worst that can happen to the detriment of the German people is this, that if they should still, after the war is over, continue to lie obliged to live under ambitious and intriguing mas ters interested to disturb the peace of the world, men or classes of men whom the other peoples of the world could not trust, it might be impossible to admit them to the partnership of nations whieh must henceforth guaran tee the world’s peace. That partnership must be a partnership of peoples, not a mere partnership of governments. It might be impossible also in such un toward circumstances to admit Ger many to the free economic intercourse which must inevitably spring out of the other partnerships of a real peace. But there would lie no aggression in that; and such a situation, inevitable because of distrust, would in the very nature of tilings sooner or later cure itself by processes which would assuredly set iri. Germany Is Protected. "The wrongs, the very deep wrongs, committed in this war will have to be lighted. That, of course. But they cannot and must not be righted by the commission of similar wrongs against Germany and her allies. The world will not permit the commission of sim ilar wrongs as a means of reparation and settlement. Statesmen must by this time have learned that the opinion of the world is everywhere wide awake and fully comprehends the issues in volved. No representative of any self governed nation will dare disregard it by attempting any such covenants of selfishness and compromise as were entered into at the congress of Vienna. The thought of the plain people here and everywhere throughout the world, the people who enjoy no privilege and have very simple and very unsophisti cated standards of right and wrong, that is the air all governments must henceforth breathe if they would live. It is in the full disclosing light of that thought that all policies must he con ceived and executed and executed in this midday hour of the world’s life. German rulers have been able to upset the peace of the world only because the German people were not suffered, un der their tutelage, to share the com radeship of the other peoi lea of the world, either in thought or in purpose. | They were allowed to have no opinion of Iheir own which might be set up as a rule of conduct for those who ex ercised authority over tlum. But the congress that concludes this war will 1'c‘ei the full strength, of the tides that run now in the hearts an l consciences of free men everywhere. Its conclu sions will run with (hose I!’os All these things have boon true from the very beginning of this stupendous war; nnd I cannot help thinking that if they had been made plain at the j very outset, the sympathy and enthus iasm of the Russian people might have 1 been once for ail enlisted on the side of tlie allies, suspicion and distrust swept away and a real and lasting I union of purpose affected. Had they believed these things at the very mom- ; ent of their revolution had they been ' confirmed in that belief since, the sad ' reverses which have recently marked | the progress of their affairs towards a stable government of free men have j been avoided. The Russian people have been poisoned by the very tame false- ; hoods that have kept the German peo- ; P’e in the dark and the poison has been 1 administered by the very same hands. | The only possible antidote is the truth, j It cannot be uttered too plainly or too often. Insures Germany Freedom. "From every noint of view, therefore, J It lias seemed to be my duty to speak ; these declarations of purpose, to add | these specific Interpretations to what l I took the liberty of uaylng to the I Senate in January. Our entrance into . the war has not altered our attitude towards the settlement that must come j when it is over. When I said in January j that the nations of the world were en- j titled not only to fr^e pathways upon the sea, hut alao to assured and unmo lested access to those pathways I waa Blinking, and I am thinking now, not of the smaller and weaker nations alone, which need our countenance and support, but also of the great and powerful nations, and of our present enemies as well as our present asso ciates In the war. I was thinking, and am thinking now, of Austria herself, among the rest, as well as of Serbia and of Poland, .lustico and equality of rights can be had only at a great price. We are seeking permanent, not tem porary foundations for the peace of the world and must seek them candidly and fearlessly, as always the right will prove to be the expedient. “What shall we do, then, to push this great war of freedom and justice to its righteous conclusion? We must clear away with a thorough hand all impedi ments to success and we must make every adjustment of law that will fa cilitate the full and free use of our whole capacity and force as a fighting unit. Recommends War on Austria. "One very embarrassing obstacle that stands in our way is that we are at war with Germany but not with her allies. I therefore very earnestly rec ommend that the congress immediately declare the United States in a state of war with Austria-Hungary. Does it seem strange to you that this should bo the conclusion of the argument I have just addressed to you? It is not. It is, in fact, the inevitable logic of what I have said. Austria-Hungary is for the time being not her own mis tress, but simply the vassal of the Ger man government. Wo must face the facts as they are and act upon them without sentiment in this stern duty. The government of Austria-Hungary is not acting upon its own initiative or in response to the wishes and feelings of its own peoples but as the instrument of another nation. We must meet its force with our own and regard the cen tral powers as but one. The war can be successfully conducted in no other way. The same logic would lead also to a declaration of war against Turkey and Bulgaria. They also are the tools of Germany. But they are mere tools and do not yet stand in the direct path of our necessary action. Wo shall go wherever the necessities of this war carry us, but it seems to me that we should go only where immediate and practical considerations lead us and not heed any others. Urges Check or. Aliens. "The financial and military measures which must be adopted will suggest themselves as the war and its under takings develop but I will take the lib erty of proposing to you certain other acts of legislation which seem to me to be needed for the support of the war and for the release of our whole force and energy. "It. will be necessary to extend in certain particulars the legislation of the last session with regard to alien enemies; and also necessary I believe, to create a very definite and particular control over the entrance and depar ture of all persons into and from the United States. 'legislation should be enacted defin ing as a criminal offense every wilful violation of the presidential proclama tions relating to alien enemies promul gated under section 4067 of the revised I statutes and providing appropriate I punishments, and women as well as men should be included under the terms of the acts, placing restraints upon alien enemies. It is likely that as time goes on many alien enemies will be willing to be fed and housed at the expense of the government in the detention camps and it would be the purpose of the legislation I have sug gested to confine offenders among them in penitentiaries and other simi lar institutions, where they could be made to work as other criminals do. Wants More Price Limits. "Recent experience has convinced me that the congress must go further in authorizing the government to set limits to prices. The law of supply and demand, I am sorry to say, has been replaced by the law of unre strained selfishness. While we have eliminated profiteering in several branches of industry it still runs im pudently rampant in others. The farm ers, for example, complain with a great deal of justice that while the regula tion of food prices restricts their in comer;, no restraints are placed upon the prices of most of the things they must themselves purchase; and similar inequities obtain on all sides. “It is imperiatively necessary that consideration of the full use of the waterpower of the country and also the consideration of the systematic ard yet economical development of such of the natural resources of the country as are still under the control of the f d eral government should be immedia'ely resumed and affirmatively and con structively dealt with at the earliest possible moment. The pressing need of such legislation is daily bee mlng more obvious. Warns Against Waste. "The legislation proposed at i e last session with regard to regulati l com binations among our exporters a order to provide for our foreign trac. a more effective organization and n chod of cooperation, ought- by all me . as to be completed at this session. "And 1 beg that the meml ers of the House of Representatives v ill permit me to express the opinion iliat it will he impossible to deal in any way but a very wasteful and extravagant fash ion with the enormous appropriations of the public moneys which must con tinue to bo made if the war is to be properly sustained, unless the House will consent to its former practice of initiating and preparing all appropria tion bills through a single committee in order that responsibility may be cen tered, expenditures standardized and made uniform and waste by duplication be avoided as much as possible. “Additional legislation may also be come necessary before the present con gress adjourns in order to affect the most efficient co-ordination and opera tion of the railway and other transpor tation systems of the country. But to that 1 shall, if circumstances demand call the attention of congress upon an other occasion. Devote Session to War. "If I have overlooked anything that ought to be done for the more effective conduct of the war, your own counsels will supply tlie omission. What I am perfectly clear about is that in the present session of the congress our whole attention and energy should be concentrated on the vigorous and rapid and successful prosecution of the great task of winning the war. "We can do this with all the greater zeal and enthusiasm because we know that for us this is a war of high prin ciple, debased by no selfish ambition of conquest or spoliation; because we know, and al the world knows, that we have been forced into it to save the very institutions we live under f.om corruption and destruction. The pur poses of the central powers strike straight at the very heart of everything we believe in; their methods of war fare outrage every principle of hu manity and of knightly honor; their intrigue has corrupted the very thought : and spirit of many of our people; their sinister and secret diplomacy nas soughttotak^iui^er^Jfijrl|jiij^^j^^y from u» and disrupt the union of the states. Our safety would be at an end. our honor forever sullied and brought Into contempt tvero we to permit their triumph. They are striking at the very existence of democracy and liberty. Declares Purposes Holy. “It is because it is for us a war of high, disinterested purpose. In which all the free peoples of the world are banded together for the vindication of right, a war for the preservation of our nation and of all that it has held dear of principle and of purpose, that we feel ourselves doubly constrained to propose for its outcome only that which is righteous and of irreproachable in tention, for our foes as well as for oui friends. The cause being just and holy the settlement must be of like motive and quality. For this we can tight, but for nothing less noble or less worthy of our traditions. For this cause wo entered the war and for this cause will we battle until the last gun is tired. "1 have spoken plainly because this seems to mo the time when it is most necessary to speak plainly, In ordei that all the world may know that even in the ardor of the struggle and when our whole thought Is of carrying the war through to Its end we have not for gotten any ideal or principle for which the name of America has been held in honor among the nations and for which it has been our glory to contend In the great generations that went before us A supreme moment of history has come. The eyes of the people have been opened and they see. The hand of God is laid upon the nations. He will show them favor, I devoutly believe, only if they rise to the clear heights of His own Justice and mercy.” Mobilization of Banks. From the Bixehe Review. The mobilization of the banking forces of the country into the federal reserve system Is going on. From October 1 the number of state banks and trust com panies which have Joined the federal re serve system is approximately 40, repre senting combined capital and deposits of about $1,843,000,000. On November 1 there were 50 applications for membership by state banks and trust companies in the hands of the federal reserve agents In the several districts, and the boards of directors of 33 state banks and trust com panies passed resolutions authorizing ap plication. It is fair to assume that this Increase will continue as a war measure, if for no other reason, until practically the whole banking force of the United States Is in cluded In the federal system—a consum mation which would make it the most im pregnable fortress for national financial defense ever erected since the beginning of civilization. Crusoe’s Relics. A biography written in the early part of the last century by Dr. A. W. Davis, of Tenbury, Eng., tells of the good doc tor's visit to Largo in Flfeshire where he saw a chest that once belonged to Alexander Selkirk. This Selkirk was none other than Robinson Crusoe, and the chest was that which had been with the redoubtable adventurer on the island of Juan Fernandez. It was an heirloom that had been handed down in the family and was then in the pos session of a poor woman, also named Selkirk. She had a drinking cup that had belonged to her distinguished an cestor, made of cocoanut shell and tipped with silver. Dr. Davis was convinced that both relics were genuine. The chest was of a kind commonly used by seamen and had “A. H.” ?ut into the lid at several places. This' same woman also had owned a musket of Selkirk’s, but she gave it to the laird of the parish. Dr. Davis notes that visitors were permit ted to see the weapon upon request. Valuable Stuffing Evidently, From Answers, London. A certain millionaire presented to his native city a fine collection of stuffed birds and animals. The attendant, escorting a visitor through the silent halls, noticed that lie was yawning, and ventured to say: “Perhaps you're not aware, sir. that this is one of the richest taxidermist ex hibits on earth. Yes, sir, this collection of stuffed animals and birds is worth £100,000!" “Is that so?" said the visitor. “What the dickens are they stuffed with?” High prices for fuel have led to tha appointment of two committees in Peru to report on the coal fields of the cen tral and northern sections of that coun try. If the investigations prove that coal exists in considerable quantities rail roads will be extended to reach the new fields. NAMED ASSISTANT TO WAR SECRETARY i ___1 Z?—' Maj. Benedict CrowelL Maj. Benedict Crowell of Cleve land has been appointed assistant •secretary of war to succeed William M. Ingraham. He was associated with the general munitions board of the council of national defense short ly after that body was orgi.M7?o Recently, howeve., he has been ir charge of the Washington ottice oi If SLOWLY I Austro-German Forces Take Mountain Peaks, But Ital ians H:pe to HJd Passes. KAISER TAKES OFFENSIVE With Hundreds of Thousands of Men From East Front He Prepares Mightiest On slaught in West. Petrograd, Dec. 8.—Germany ap parently is to be permitted, under the Russo-German armistice plan, to transfer all the troops she desires from the Russian front for use against the allies. The full text of the armistice agreement, signed by the Sixty-seventh Russian and the Thirty-first German infantry di vision commanders, as published here today in the newspaper Pranvda, shows no stipulation that German troops must not be used against the allies on the other fronts. Such a stipulation was spe cifically pledged by Foreign Minis ter Trotzky in a recent speech. By Associated Press. While tin- tremendous effort the Aus tro-Hungarian army in the eastern Trentino is muking to gain the passes into the Italian plains resulted yester day in the pushing back of the Italian line at one point, the vital front re mains unbroken. The advance was scored just to the east of Asiago, where, according to to day’s official statement from Berlin, the eminence of Monte Sisemol was stormed. The capture may have been one result of the recession in the Italian line just to the east the day previous after heavy fighting for Monte Fior and Monte Castelgomberto. Dispatches from Italian headquarters have reflec ted confidence there that the new line in this sector was capable of holding the route to the passes. German wedges driver, into the salient before Cambral have compelled the British to evacuate exposed points and they have given un to the Ger mans several villages west of Cambral as well as the Bourlon wood. The British line has been shortened and made more capable of strong de fense. Berlin in its latest report claims the occupation of Marcoing, about four miles southwest of Cambral. Minor German attacks south of Bourlon wood nnd near La Vacquerie have been re pulsed by the British. Berlin (via London), Dec. 8.—Four thousand more Italians have been cap tured In the new Austro-German offen sive on the northern front, bringing up the total to 15,000, according to today's official communication. Monte Sisemol was captured by storm, the statement says. German troops stormed La Justice farm and cleared Marcoing of the enemy, today’s official statement from the Cambral sector said. North of La Vacquerie, German troops maintained their positions. The enemy penetrated them for a time, but was thrown back by counter attacks. Vienna, Thursday, Dec, 6.—(via Lon don, Dec. 7.)—The Austro-Hungarian general headquarters today issued the following official communication: "The enemy has suffered a heavy de feat. Early Tuesday, after powerful ar tillery preparation, in which German batteries cooperated with the troops under Field Marshal Conrad, we launched an attack against the moun tain positions in the Meletta region. The deep snow and severe cold rendered progress difficult, but the careful preparation for the attack nnd the bravery of the attackers—natives from all parts of Austria-Hungary—were able to overcome every counter meas ure. “Early Wednesday Monte Badenecche and Monte Tondarecar fell and at mid day kalserjaeger regiment No. 3 stood on Monte Gifla. Toward evening the Italian resistance on the Meletta ridge broke down before our encircling nnd storming attacks. Enemy reinforce ments coming up from Vnlstagna were taken on the flank by the fire of our batteries. "During the morning hours yesterday the enemy, after a bitter struggle, lost Monte Bello and the rear positions near Foza. At 2 o’clock in the afternoon the brave Italian defenders, who had been completely cut off for 24 hours on Monte Castelgomberto, laid down their arms. All the terrain north of Fren zela ravine is in our hands." Rome, Dec. 8.—“On the Asiago plateau the battle is continuing without interruption,” says today's official re port. By Associated Press. Italian Headquarters In Northern Italy. Thursday, Dec. 6.—The big operation which the enemy is attempt ing in the north is virtually a repeti tion of the turning movement he exe cuted six weeks ago in the great offen sive above Gorizia. At that time he broke through the upper end of the line and thus endangered the lower end. This is exactly the situation which is being repeated today. It has been estaldished that while Field Marshal Conrad Von Hoetzendorff is directing the movement, General Von Krobatin's forces also are cooper ating. In addition to the superiority in numbers, the Austro-Germans are tak ing advantage of the backward season and are striking before the mountain snows Impede operations. This weather this year happens to be favorable to the enemy. The snow is only a few inches deep, whereas in December the snow usually reaches a depth of from four to 10 feet. One such snowfall now would be worth divisions. Gray skies today indicated snow, but the fall was light. The importance of the fighting around Asiago is not underestimated, but it is believed the line of resistance on which the Italians have retired is capable of holding the Franzella and Gadena passes leading into the Brenta valley and the open plain some miles below. The fighting has been of the most desperate character and while the enemy has paid dearly for hiB success, the Italian losses also have been very heavy. An eye witness from the si ene of op erations gave the correspondent details of the extent and bloody natuie of the fighting. Enemy reserves were poured in until the Italians were far outnum bered. They continued to struggle des perately, however, and in one case a small detachment of Bersaglierl met the shock of an entire Austrian regi AMERICANS EXPECT TO ENTER BATTLE Men Wonder If Training Will Not Ee Cut Short So That They May Aid in Crisis. By United Pres*. American Headquarters in Prance, Dec. 8.—The American soldiers are be ginning to wonder whether their period of training will not be shortened so that they may be sent into the fray to strengthen their allies, tho British and French, now battling with the Germans around Cambrai. News came from home today that the American Con gress Is about to declare war on Austria. This heartened them greatly. Officers and men seem to realize the doings of the next week or two prob ably mean much to them and tfielr allies. The success or failure of fha Germans at Cambrai and in Italy, Ulf Y believe, will determine in large mea sure the length of the war. They are anxious to get into it, believe thpy have had enough training and hejjeva that now Is the psychological tnue to make the step. By Associated Press. With the American Army in Kmnce, Thursday. Dec. 6.—The greatest scljwi of war the American army has ever known and which when fully under way w’lll probably he the greatest ot any army, began operations to<toy In and about a French town, the hjstory of which dates back 1,000 years. AJMthln field glass range of the old Roman Walls surrounding the town in which tha headquarters and staff college ara established, there are numerous locali- . ties where already many men are Jje ing trained in the science of war and all its finer details. When the sbftOot is in full progress more than 10,(TOO stu dents will be in training here. ns well as bayonets In fierce hand to band fighting. Surrounded, They Fight Qn. But the greatest single instance of heroism and loss wras In the case o^sev eral detachments of Alpini, which held Monte Castelgomberto against over whelming odds until surrounded. Thus encircled, they made repeated chargee, but the heavy surrounding lines held and the entire party was still on the mountain when the remainder of the Italian line fell back. In another case one brigade of Ber saglierl lost a great number of officers and men in the same proportion. The extent of the enemy reserves iashown by their concentration in the average number of a division for every Jdlo meter. The artillery fire also has been the heaviest since the new Italian line was formed. Up to Them to Hold. Conditions this morning \\eije vir tually unchanged. Much depeniHhn the ability of the Italians to hold thtf^wsses to which they have now retlrejdi com manding the Brenta valley ahd the plains. TRY BLOW AT FRENCH. Paris, Dec. 8.—Two attempts were made by the Germans to brrfik the French lines east of the Meuse in the Verdun region last night, after a heavy bombardment. The attacking forces, the war office announced toduy, were drive off by the French fire. By the United Press. With the British Armies in the Ifield. Dec. 8.—British army officers expect Germany's biggest and perhaps final effort of the war shortly. General Byng's retirement from Bourlon wood is regarded as a precautionary measure for the British to withstand the shock. As the British see it Germany is at the zenith of her military power. With Russia out of the way the (Airmans have been able to draw on her man power along that front. She is prepar ing, evidently, to throw every ounce of her man power into the stroke about to he delivered in her final attempt to attain a military victory before) the American troops arrive on the fighting line. On the Bourlon sector there were'but two alternatives for General Bync. One was to push ahead and the other to step hack to a more secure footing. U. S. AIRMEN WOUNDED Washington, D. C., Dec. 8.—American airmen fighting the German planes on the western front have suffered their first easuality. Two men. a corporal and a private, were today reported wounded. No report of the engagement in which the Americans were wounded was for warded. They are: Corporal Walter A. Warren, Dublin, C.a. Private Edward F. Ebsen, Buffalo. N. Y. _ _ _ AUSTRIANS RELEASE RUSSIAN PRISONERS Captives Taken by Italians Say Emperor Didn’t Wait on Slavs. Rome. Dec. 7.—Austrian prisoners taken in the last few days say that the release of Russian prisoners held in Austria began 10 days ago. Austria took the initiative in this without waiting for Russia to release Austrian prisoners. _ SAYS HE SAW U. S. SAILORS AMONG DEAD Truro, N. S., Dec. 7.—A telegraph operator sent here from Halifax by the Western Union Telegraph company said today that he saw the bodies of several sailors of the United States navy who lied been killed by the explo sion yerterday. No accurate statement of the num ber of persons killed and wounded was available early today. Rsthn.ites made by hundreds of survivors who came here during the day and night varied from 3U0 to '-',000 killed. The property damage, chiefly along the water front and in the manufacturing, wholesale and residential districts, will reach sev eral millions of dollars.