vian authoresses, Madame Karen Bramson, made a trip of several weeks along the Rhine, and, having heard of the famous outrages supposed to have been committed by the black troops, wanted to investigate the matter herself on the spot. She visited the principal towns, interrogated the inhabitants, questioned the authorities, examining the matter most carefully. Then, on her return to Sweden, she published the results of her patient investigation. I give them here below and quote her conclusion textually:

"Germany," writes Madame Bramson, "knows the truth: The German men hate the colored soldiers because the women take too great an interest in them. The men cry out: 'Rape!' in order to be revenged and to excuse the women in the eyes of the foreigner. The fact is that the colored troops are an irresistible attraction to many German women. In the evening, in front of the barracks, there is an intense movement of women awaiting the coming out of the soldiers, then incidents occur, disputes arise, cries and laughter are to be heard, and those are the rapes!"

Madame Karen Bramson has done even more than to report her impressions to her Swedish compatriots; she has brought them clippings from German newspapers from the Rhine. Those are certainly witnesses which none can repudiate. They are edifying. Listen to their talk:

The "Christlicher Pilger," a religious paper of Spire, on the Rhine, under the title of "French Politics Towards Germany," wrote on December 9 last:

"The 'Augsburger Zeitung' has recently reproduced an article from an English paper, the 'Daily Herald,' blaming in strong terms the attitude of the black troops in the occupied territories. In the interest of the truth, the 'Christlicher Pilger' declares that at Spire and in its suburbs the black troops enjoy a greater regard than the white garrison did that preceded them here. The black troops of occupation are generally most well behaved. If complaints have been heard, they ought to be made against that category of shameless young German girls who have no fear of being seduced, but who, on the contrary, seek to seduce others."

Another paper, the "Volklingen Nachrichten," under the title of "Undignified Women," rises up against the misconduct of the young German girls who throw themselves on the necks of the black troops of occupation, and says that "these shameless women ought to be flogged."

Even more characteristic perhaps is the following note inserted by the "Koelnische Zeitung:"

"The use of black troops in the occupied countries has been most severely criticised in the German as well as in the foreign press. Even if we have to maintain that it goes against the Germen sentiments to see black troops of occupation in the old Christian Rhine lands, we must, however, acknowledge

that we are unable to prove the truth of these accusations which have formed the basis of the articles concerning this question.

"The municipality of the town has absolutely nothing to do with the article concerning the discovery of the four bodies of young girls in a dung-hole of the Joffre barracks at Sarrebruck. The fact of this lying communication was only made known by a letter dated December 24. The municipality regrets exceedingly that, without having examined the truth of this untruthful communication, many papers have published this article, which is liable to compromise the friendly relationship existing between the population and the I'rench administration. Новонм."

An old French saying runs: "Calumniate, calumniate, something always remains of it!" When one has read the documents herein above named, it seems that nothing remains at all. They will have to look for and find something better.

Paris, France.

Wide World

W

WITH two years and more elapsed since the armistice was made, Germany has neither completely disarmed, nor has the amount of her reparation bill towards the partial cost of the destruction she wrought yet been settled.

Can any one doubt that from one to two years would have been gained in the readjustment of Europe had the Allies obtained unconditional surrender of the German forces and their leaders, and occupied Berlin-the true intent of every Allied soldier?

When Mr. Wilson was negotiating the armistice, an Allied diplomat in Washington said:

"Mr. President, why do you make peace with Germany?"

"Because Germany is defeated," answered the President.

"But Germany doesn't know it, and that is all that matters," said the diplomat.

Yet the diplomat understated the case. Germany not only did not know that she was defeated, she knew she was not defeated, for did she not remain the only Continental country taking part in the war that was not invaded?

It was a question of definition, and Ger many's was more accurate than Mr. Wilson's. To her the test of defeat was simple but definite: she must at all costs avoid destruction or capture of her armies and invasion of her soil.

These two aims had been the avowed purposes of the Allied world, the irreducible minimum. Suddenly, in the hour of final disaster, Germany found unhopedfor aid, and Mr. Wilson, unaware of Germany's well-defined purpose, made a definition of his own, and the world failed to recognize its fateful inaccuracy and limitation. Some few there were who warned, even before the armistice was signed, but they were unheard amid the jubilant clamor of a counterfeit victory. The uneasy conscience of any Allied leader responsible for the error must have sensed those discordant overtones which rang out to ears more truly attuned-the escape of Germany and the knell of the only kind of peace which counted, a final and decisive one. It was Allied hands which rung the joy bells, but German hearts which felt truest rejoicing.

Foch was compelled to release his strangle-hold on the German tiger and

allowed only to clip his claws-a conqueror turned manicure. All that Foch was permitted to do he did, but we have his recent declaration in Paris that he had expected the.Allied Powers to complete the task after he had done his part.

But it was necessary, in order to obtain glory for the Peace-Maker, that we should have a Peace Without Victory!

There was evident intention to save Germany's face and effect a compromise peace which would avoid the appearance, if not indeed the reality, of unconditional surrender. It was the very course best calculated to keep alive German militarism and faith in Germany's invincibility. Our leaders had not the vision to see that it was more necessary to destroy the legend than itself. They spared the thereby gave new life t quitting too soon!

Emile Cammaerts in a don once described a draw of two French poilus, cove and exposed to infernal she hope," said one "that th out." "Who?"" the civilians There is

posite mind of the German General Staff, prepared for every emergency, ceased to function with the signing of the armistice. Then began a silent war of coercive propaganda and obstruction, to snatch victory from defeat. Their old weapon, Bolshevism, which had worked such wonders in Russia, was everywhere employed with alarming results. Allied delay in enforcing German disarmament I was due to fear of Bolshevism, with the feeble hope that Germany's forces would suppress it and stay its westward march. Instead of treating Prussianism and Bolshevism as two arms of the same monster, the second of only less malignant growth than the first, the Allies chose the weaker course of relying on Germany to subdue the one through the other, thereby ignoring their Siamesetwin relationship. They failed to lop off the one limb of military menace, in the futile expectancy that it would do the very work the Allies shirked, and inflict fratricidal destruction on blood-brother-Bolshevism.

its

But Prussianism merely held in check a mock Bolshevism in Germany, and aided its spread in Hungary and elsewhere. Neither France, Italy, nor England has anything to fear from Eolshevism as such, but much to fear from Prussianism working through Bolshevism. Bolshevism unquestionably had German encouragement and aid in its attempt on Poland, and may again, for destruction of Poland as a barrier against Russian aggression (Germany's only road to Russia is through Polish territory once claimed as her own) is Germany's true policy in eastern Eu

rope.

Von Hindenburg sounded the keynote to this policy in a speech he made in Silesia, as read later in the Polish Parliament, when Germany's obstructive tactics had prevented the landing of the Polish army from France to relieve Poland:

was

"Not many of us understand what a great victory we won when the Polish army from France was not allowed to land at Dantsic.

Here is the evidence.

In Paris, at the Peace Conference, I was told the complete story of what happened at the War Council at Versailles, when the armistice was settled upon, by the famous "Pertinax," the distinguished political editor of "L'Echo de Paris," as related to him by participants in that War Council, then France's delegates. Later, as I will relate, I received confirmation of this hitherto unpublished chapter from M. Clemenceau himself, and final evidence as to premature peace.

Following is the story as given me by "Pertinax," whose testimony cannot be questioned:

"Mr. Wilson started negotiations for peace with Germany without giving any notification to or consulting with the British, French, or Italian Governments. These Governments had then to face what had become an accomplished fact of the greatest import, especially since it meant that the armistice to be imposed on Germany was to be connected with the acceptance of Mr. Wilson's Fourteen Points and his subsequent pronouncements.

"The Allies had then to make their choice between accepting an armistice which was contrary to what should be the true character of an armistice, since it entailed upon the victors limitations and obligations as well as rights; or, on the other hand, we must face the danger of eliminating the good will of all-powerful America.

Did the Treaty, made in fear of repudiation by an unchastened and as yet un-disarmed Germany, bring that conviction of defeat which was neither imposed through force of arms, nor made manifest during the map-making business at the Quai d'Orsay, conducted with ingenuous confidence that merely the Allied scissors and a plentiful supply of League-of-Nations mucilage would coerce the predatory Hun?

The balance is yet to be struck. Why, then, was peace made too soon, granting the correctness of my premise?

In October, 1919, in his office in New York, when I saw Colonel Roosevelt prior to my departure for the Peace Conference, he said to me:

"Tell Mr. [naming a British statesman] from me that they are not to be frightened by Mr. Wilson. Tell him that a month ago Mr. Wilson was ready to make a separate peace with Germany, and leave the Allies in the lurch."

A month later Mr. Wilson did make a separate peace with Germany by grant ing the armistice and by giving terms through his Fourteen Points when terms need not have been given, released Germany from Foch's grip, saved her army from capture and surrender and her soil from invasion. And the Allies were not consulted until this action was irrevocable.

showed itself clearly at the sitting of the Supreme War Council in October, when the terms of the proposed armistice were being discussed. Its terms had been practically agreed to, when some one raised the point as to whether its imposition on Germany was to be connected with the acceptance by the Allies of the Fourteen Points, as laid down by Mr. Wilson ten months before, when the Allies might gladly have made peace on such terms, but the necessity for which had long since passed.

"To a direct query made to him, Colonel House answered:

""I understand that the opinion of President Wilson is to that effect.' "M. Clemenceau then said:

"Let us then read the Fourteen Points.'

"They were read aloud, the first of them dealing with open diplomacy. Clemenceau said:

"Does that mean that all our exchange of views must be made before the public?' Mr. Balfour said that, as he understood Mr. Wilson's aims, all that was required was that the Allies were first to arrive at the aims the Allies had in common before public announcement. Clemenceau said, "There will be no difficulty about that.'

"Then Mr. Lloyd George explained the attitude of his Government regarding the freedom of the seas, and that Germany had used Mr. Wilson's statement on that subject in such a way that they had to be very careful on that point. "Suddenly M. Clemenceau said: "Colonel House, suppose we do not

accept the Fourteen Points, what will happen?'

"Colonel House replied:

""Then, I think, the President will consider that the conversation between himself and the Allies is at an end.' "Clemenceau then characteristically

asked:

"And would your conversations with Germany also come to an end?'

"On that point I cannot give you any assurance,' answered Colonel House.

"That we took as a distinct threat expressed on behalf of America to leave the Allies to their fate if they did not then make peace and conform themselves to the Fourteen Points and to the rest of Mr. Wilson's policies.

"After four years of a very cruel war, the Allies were thus put in the position of having either to alienate the American people, or accept Mr. Wilson's settlement and thereby endanger their rightful fruits of victory and those elements of security for which we had fought so long. Foch and his staff even went so far as to examine the question as to whether the Allied armies, if deprived of American support, could bring about the complete defeat of Germanyand the conclusion was that he could. knowing well the desperate straits the German armies were in.

"But of course the French and British Governments could not support even the idea of parting company with America, even if at that price they were to insure the full advantages of complete victory.

"Moreover, for nearly six weeks previously public opinion in both England and France had certainly been enervated by the exchange of messages between Mr. Wilson and Berlin. The very praise it had been deemed wise to shower on Mr. Wilson in both countries was reacting against the two Governments and placing more power in his hands.

"As one French statesman put it, 'Our arm had been caught in the Wilson wheel and the whole body had to follow.' "At that time it was the firm purpose of the Allies to impose a military victory on Germany, since there is in such a victory a moral consequence which could never be obtained by an armistice. We should have achieved it, and we see now the many consequences of this premature action, and we remember espeIcially how the German troops were welcomed back to Berlin as victors.

"Not only were we thus prevented from obtaining a complete military victory, but we had imposed on us through

the armistice obligations which did not, and do not, leave us free to negotiate a true peace with Germany.

"Mr. Wilson thus not only bound us up by imposing his Fourteen Points as part of the armistice terms, but he is holding us fast to his own interpretations thereof. "As a result of the destruction wrought in Europe by the deliberate designs of

GEORGES CLEMENCEAU, PREMIER OF FRANCE DURING THE PERIOD OF VICTORY AND OF PEACE-MAKING

"'M. Clemenceau, was the armistice made too soon?' He answered with great vigor: 'Yes, a month too soon; but it was not our fault'"

Germany, either France or Germany must proceed for a generation shackled or crippled, and we now propose to President Wilson that it shall not be America's ally, France, but her enemy who is made to suffer such a penalty.

"Although Foch needed two or three weeks longer to complete his battle, the French Government yielded to pressure and to the considerations given above, perhaps to our terrible cost and future undoing."

There remains only the needed confirmation from the one living authority best qualified to give true and unprej. udiced evidence-M. Clemenceau. The following notes were made by me dated March 21, 1919, in Paris:

"M. Clemenceau received me this morning at the Ministry of War after he had postponed my appointment five

ENOUGH FOR ME

times in eight days, each time sending word with punctilious politeness, without reminder from me.

"As I entered his big room, hung with maps, M. Clemenceau said: 'I regret having had to put you off so often, for I wanted to see you, but these are critical days, and my time is constantly taken up, as you know. We are in the midst of many difficulties, and this is not the moment to talk, but I am very hopeful of a good outcome.'

"He then spoke briefly of various matters of vital interest, saying he placed first in importance France's future security. Before leaving I wished to ask one important question, so I said:

"M. Clemenceau, was the armistice made too soon?' He answered with great vigor:

"Yes, a month too soon; but it was not our [France's] fault.'

"I said, 'I know well who was responsible; I have heard that whole story of how Mr. Wilson made peace before consulting the Allies, and coerced them into accepting his Fourteen Points.'

"He smiled, and nodded an affirmative. "Clemenceau looked wonderfully keen and alert, although just recovered from the assassin's bullet. He is not unlike Roosevelt in manner and in his short, stocky build. His. face has a Mongolian cast, with high cheek-bones, and he wears a walrus mustache. He wore, as always, the inevitable gray gloves.

"As I took my leave and passed M. Bourgeois coming into the room with an immense dossier of papers, I had a vision of a tired but vigorous old man, summoning all his energies to cope with labors and responsibilities from which he could not escape, fighting with his back to the wall-the one great outstanding figure of the Peace Conference of unquestioned single-minded purpose, courage, and patriotism.

"Clemenceau, like the Russian soldier, was forced to fight with empty hands and build the corner-stone of peace, of which France could supply only the granite, badly battered, it is true, from many assaults, and needing the mortar of money and supplies from hands still overflowing, but doling out with small bargaining and coercive usury. He was France!

France, the bride of earthly goal,
France, the master of her soul,
France weaves an immortal shroud
For heroes bloody but unbowed!
France, the Milky Way of Glory!
France, forever fabled story!

T

HIS story is addressed strictly to tight-wads. It is for the sordid, hard-headed, callous bohunks who have no standard of value except the dollar. If you are one of those miserly and practical "business men" who recognize no power in society except the power of money, then read on. This is for you.

If, on the other hand, you have a soul, if your heart ever warms to music or the majesty of the ocean or the solitude of the forests or the sublimity of the mountains, if you can recognize spiritual values, this story has nothing that will interest you very much. For the present we are going to consider nothing but money-cold cash-market values expressed in dollars, each dollar 25.8 grains of gold, nine-tenths fine.

There are a lot of frivolous highbrows who want to make National parks for

International

BY FRANK A. WAUGH

the preservation of scenery and who have nothing but the flimsiest of sentimental reasons for it. They want to save the big trees merely to worship them, without any consideration for the price of lumber. They want to save Niagara Falls and Yellowstone Lake, and Multnomah Falls and the Grand Canyon, only to see the water lie rotting in the lake or fall uselessly over the precipice. They talk about patriotism and love of country and the elevating influence of beauty, and all that nonsense. But we are going to pass up all that dribble and get down to something important-that is, to money and markets.

Now the National Parks, the National Forests, and the National Monuments, in which much of our finest American scenery is preserved, are visited annually by hundreds of thousands of our citizens. For the present

we may confine our attention strictly to the National Parks, since it is here that the highbrows propose to cut away from all practical considerations and save the landscape for its beauty alone. We are going to stick strictly to facts, and fact the first is this: The attendance on the National Parks in 1919 was over threequarters of a million, and in 1920 was near the million mark. This would be good business even for a moving-picture show.

It is a fair presumption that the entertainment supplied to these park visitors was fully equal to that given at the movies. Now the movies constitute a legitimate and established business. Some persons think that they are a purely business proposition. At any rate, the movie managers have something to sell and the public buys their wares in large quantities.

What they sell is recreation. So also do the theaters, the operas, the circuses, and hundreds of other good legitimate business organizations sell recreation. There are, in fact, hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of recreation sold over the counter every day of the year, including Sunday, in spite of all blue laws. This fact should entitle recreation to a place along with pig iron, army stores, and fertilizers as a commodity of commerce. The movingpicture industry is said to be worth millions of dollars. It is not necessary to inquire too nicely what this means, but the statement is widely accepted, and among the indurated worshipers of business for the cash it is never questioned.

Considering recreation as a commercial commodity, we may fairly inquire what it is worth. By this we mean only what will it bring in the market. The highbrows may suggest that some of the forms of recreation most profitable commercially are utterly worthless in any view of ultimate human values; but we care nothing about such piffling considerations. At present market prices, recreation in the movies sells for about 20 cents a package, or, roughly stated, at 20 cents an hour. If one goes to a "regular" theater, one pays from 50 cents to $1.50 an hour for entertainment. A concert or the grand opera costs $1 to $5 an hour.

Any one who will run over the commoner forms of commercialized recreation, such as those on which he spends