THE WEEK IN REVIEW

A HEADLONG RETREAT. The ill-starred Austrian offensive on the Italian front ended in a headlong retreat. The impetuous attacks of the Italians rendered untenable the positions which the Austrians had taken in their first advance. They were forced to evacuate the Montello plateau, and were driven back from the western bank of the Piave river, which they had incautiously crossed, in full expectation of making their The way to the Venetian plains. Isudden rise in the Piave river under heavy rains and the destruction of nearly all of the bridges which they had thrown across, made their hasty exit imperative, and they fled in such haste that they left large supplies of guns and stores behind them. Fortyfive thousand prisoners were taken by the Italians, and the total losses of the Austrians are estimated at 180,000.

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AMERICANS "OVER THE TOP." All accounts of the fighting in France agree that the American troops go into action with an impetuous bravery which takes little account posing numbers. A striking illustration of this quality is their recent capture of a German stronghold south of the village of Torcy, northwest of Chateau-Thierry. In this engagement, preceded by thirteen hours of intense artillery fire, the American troops, fighting for seven hours hand to hand in the woods, practically annihilated a German force of more than 1,000, taking prisoner all who were not killed in the action, and taking also a number of machine guns.

AMERICA'S "BIT."

for service. Those who are assigned to Class 1 are practically certain to receive an early call to the colors, if they are physically fit.

GERMANY'S "WAR AIMS." The world has grown somewhat weary of shifting official German statements of war aims and policies, couched in ambiguous terms and leading nowhere. The latest is that made by the German Foreign Secretary von Kuehlmann, in a speech to the Reichstag on June 24. From this it appears that the chief culprit in the beginning and forcing of the war was not Great Britain-as usually charged by the Germans-but Russia, aided and abetted however by France and England. As to Belgium, Von Kuehlmann declined to give any promises or make any concessions, because they would not be binding on the enemy. The positive desires of Germany and her allies are "a free, strong, independent existence, within the boundaries drawn for us by history, overseas possessions corresponding to our greatness and wealth, the freedom of the sea, carrying our trade to all parts of the world." Von Kuehlmann modestly disclaimed any intention of world domination, based his hopes of complete German victory on the German position on the battlefields and her "enormous military resources," and described the idea of victory for the Entente as a dream, an illusion. Von Kuehlmann's statement only strengthens the conviction that there can be no world peace until Germany is completely beaten on the battlefield.

TURKEY AND THE UNITED
STATES.

The average American finds it hard to understand why the United States should hesitate to declare war against Turkey and Bulgaria when those countries are in direct alliance with Germany and Austria, and their troops may at any moment be confronting 'American forces in France. As matters now are, the Turkish and Bulgarian legations still hold their standing at Washington, and Turks and Bulgars in this country cannot be treated as enemy aliens, although they are essentially that. The recent outrage at Tabriz, Persia, where an American missionary hospital country, sacked by Turkish are

It was just a year ago on June 26 that the first division of the American army landed in France and was received, with rapturous demonstrations of enthusiasm by the French people. During the year this division has grown to an army of more than 900,000, of whom 650,000 constitute a fighting force, holding sectors in at least six places on the battle line, on the Marne, in Picardy and in Flanders. Behind this fighting force, in camps and cantonments in this

equipped and ready to move, 1,000,000 men, and behind these, another 1,000,000 who will fill up the gaps left at home as division after division sails for the front. Considering that the United States entered the war only fifteen months ago, and was at the time admittedly unprepared for any serious war effort, this is a pretty good record.

THE LATEST DRAFT. On Thursday the drawing of order numbers for the 800,000 men who registered for military service on June 5 took place in the Senate office building at Washington, the first number being drawn by Secretary Baker, blindfolded. The drawing was of less importance to the men directly concerned than that of a year ago. Then, the drawing was to fix the registrant's place in the order of his call for service. Thursday's drawing was for the establishment of five classes of registrants, fixing relative liability

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troops, and the American consulate occupied by them brings about an acute situation which can scarcely end in anything short of a declaration of war. The United States has addressed three messages of inquiry to the Turkish Government, without receiving any reply, and it would seem that the time has come, when the next step should be taken.

WHY THERE ARE NO
AIRCRAFT.

The State sub-committee on aircraft has begun its investigation of the delay in the building of aircraft, and its first hearings go to show that the chief cause has been the desire of American experts to improve on foreign models, experiment after experiment being tried, while the months went by and actual production was halted. When British experts came here with the Handley-Page bombing plane the standard bombing plane of the British army-their designs were

revised by Americans, who, in their zeal to produce something better, consumed months in trying out their plans, with no result except to increase the weight of the machine, and to hold up production until today only one machine is ready to be tested. The same experience befell the builders of the Caproni, the Italian bombing plane.

A TROOPSHIP SUNK.

The latest exploit of the German submarine raiders off the Atlantic coast is the sinking of a British transport, which was under charter by the United States and had been used for conveying troops to the other side. Happily, the ship was westward bound, and there were no troops on board. Of the crew of 148, sixtyseven are missing. The torpedoing occurred about 700 miles east of the Delaware capes. The submarine was not seen until a torpedo had struck the ship. Afterwards she rose to the surface and fired nineteen shells into the sinking vessel. Nothing had been heard of the operations of the submarines for four days before the torpedoing of this ship, and it is uncer-tain whether this attack was the work of a homeward bound U-boat, or of one that was on its way to re-enforce those previously sent. One result of the U-boat raids which the Germans could not have anticipated has been a great boom in the recruiting for the American naval service. In the first week in June 14,400 men were enrolled in the naval reserve alone-a number which records-and in the there were 12,308 recruits.

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A WISE DELAY.

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The British Government reached the wise decision to postpone for the present both the question of home rule for Ireland and that of conscription in Ireland. It has thereby exposed itself criticism from both sides, but it can well afford to face that rather than force to the front, at this critical stage in the war, questions which must inevitably create bitter dissension. Any re-enforcement of British arms which might be secured by drafts in Ireland would be more than offset by the necessity of maintaining in Ireland a military force strong enough to put down inevitable revolt, and the home rule question, with the attendant problem of the government of Ulster, may well wait for quieter times than these, since it already has waited so long. It is not impossible that the measures which have been taken to stimulate voluntary recruiting in Ireland may make both questions less acute than they are now.

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