St. John's Daily Star, 1918-06-22

              the st john's daily star newfoundland volume iv 3.00 per annum saturday june 22,1918 peobs fine and cool no 134 allies now control military situation along entire austro=italian war front foe's strongest attacks end in failure bread riots in vienna 150,000 munition workers strike — citizens attack 1 german embassy and denounce the prussians broke windows . and looted shops i ondon june 22 new bread riots started thursday in the favoriten and bnltainy districts of vienna and there are now more than 150,000 men munition workers on strike in the aus trian capital says an exchange tele graph despatch from vienna an attempt on the german embassy in vienna according to vienna cor respondents of munich newspapers v.t dispersed by the police there were many arrests and some persons were injured 1 here were cries germany is starv ing us down with germany a s'atement declares that the dem onstrators held up tramways broke windows and looted food shops and baker carts at the municipal council meeting herr nuemann representing the so cialists denounced the brest litovsk peace as a fraud and declared the situation was untenable took strict measures london june 22.—according to the vienna neve freie press during the serious street rioting the police end military v.ere called out and took strict measures and issued warnings lo parents making them responsible forthe actions of their children says and exchange telegraph despatch from copenhagen expect austrian new offensive indications point to a renewal of aui trian drive on large scale italian headquarters in northern italy june 20.—(by the a p.)—it i is considered only a question of a brief lapse of tirhe before the aus trians will begin another offensive it is said that this time they prob ably will concentrate their efforts instead of scattering them as they did a week ago when they followed the german plan of attack to make a big general offensive over a long line before revealing their point of . attack it is thought that the plan was even dictated by general ludendorff the german commander who didn't realize that the austfians were too weak to make such an attack lacking as they did not only artillery but general officers and officers of lower grade the reported presence of emper or charles on the italian front is considered one of the signs leading to the belief that the austrians will feel the necessity of renewing their at tack ■ ■ defeated by bolsheviki by washington june 21.—gen sem cnoff's force of cossacks in siberia has been defeated by the bolshevi ki troops and are retiring into chin ese territory leading the hosts of democracy when you compare these faces with those of it indenburs mackensen and the other german com ttanders can you doubt which side will win the victory in the great war for world freedom this is an excellent tripling of the profile views of thethree great allied commanders pershing haig and foch the flower of american british and french manhood side by side on-the frontier of freedom will told the hun horde and eventually drive it back within its own borders these are the three heads the world is depending on just now'to make the world safe for democracy grave shortcomings crippling defects herewith the star presents to its readers a most important letter dealing with the enforcement of the military service act and sent us by mr alfred b morine k c whose signature it bears and who has been so inde fatigable in his efforts to give legal assistance to his bonavista constituents in bona fide cases before the exemption tribunal the star is informed that yesterday afternoon a copy of this letter was sent to the chief government newspaper for publication this afternoon as the manuscript of mr morine's letter was not received until this morn ing it is impossible for the star to do more than call the attention of its readers to the great importance of the matters dealt with in this xplain-spoken commu nication to the shortcomings our distinguished correspondent points out as marr ing the military service act and to the practical suggestions he makes for the remedying of these obvious and unfortunate defects the star can conceive of no connection in which the government can be better helped by sane and healthy criticism than this it was in such a spirit that the star some time ago called the attention of.the authorities to certain defects in the act and in the machinery provided for its application to recruit ing in this country our readers will remember that the articles for which it is alleged this paper was suppressed embodied the criticisms advanced by mr mo rine though that gentlemaan in addition points out certain iegal shortcomings also of the gravest import actuated solely by a desire to have defects in the act and reforms in the pro cedure thereunder remedied for the benefit of the military class affected partic ularly and in the interest of the country generally the star today publishes this letter of mr morine's and like him trusts that it will serve the patriotic end to which it is designed ■ 3 military service act editor the star - dear sir no matter what opinions persons may have enter tained before the enactment of the military service act as to the wis dom or otherwise of selective con scription in this dominion there will be absolute unanimity i think in demanding the enforcement of the act in an efficient and at the same time humane spirit it is to help in such an administration of the meas ure that the following remarks are penned the m s act 1918 is a copy of the canadian act 1917 with a few amendments by the legislature de local conditions and to make it more workable than the canadian act had proven to be nobody here was familiar with the canadian act or its workings and our act was adopt ed under stress of circumstances after very inadequate consideration it is not surprising therefore to find mistakes in it arising from amendments and mistakes also oc curring in the administration of the act due to following unfamiliar canadian methods i regret to say sir that mistakes have occurred which are likely to prove embarras sing in proceedings under the act and it is in the hope that i may be helpful in curing or avoiding their them and venture certain sugges tions the canadian act provides that from time to tjme a class may be called out and all called men shall report on the date proclaimed upon pain of imprisonment the local act provided that class i should be called out at once and report on may 24th last on pain of imprisonment—no provision whatever was made for any extension of time for such report consequently every man in class 1 who did not report on or before may 24th last is liable to be imprisoned the omission to provide for an ex tension of time was stupid for the act only gave fourteen days notice surprised enemies delighted friends lloyd george welcoming dominions premiers out lines britain's wonder ful military accomplish ments in present war i0nd0n june 21 via renter's ot taw a agency)—the parliamen tary supper given by the empire par liamentary association to weclome the dominions premiers was a bril liant affair the royal galleries of the house of lords in which the din ner was served were crowded by a most distinguished gathering includ ing thirteen past and present domin ion premiers jnost of th eministers of the cabinet and a large number of commoners and lords including both government and opposition the high commissioners of all the dominions premiers and other ministers from overseas now in this country includ ing lieut.-generai smuts hon messts burton and hult of south africa and the maharajahs of pat tiala and sinha the gathering numbered oyer.two hundred the lord chancellor pre sided and proposed the toast of the king hon david lloyd george pre mier proposed the toast to our cab inet colleagues among them the do minions to which sir robert bor den the canadian premier and hon wm hughes the australian premier replied tribute to dominions the british premier in toasting the cabinet ministers of the domin ions said they were leaders of per haps the most democratic communit ies in the world in which we have the shrewdness sagacity and courage they bring to bear on problems of empire he said these periodical con ferences with the statesmen of the domiiions wttft most helpful and stimulating to british ministers ■ the conferences are the source of the greatest inspiration and support to us who have borne the stress and the strain of the war for years he mentioned sir robert borden prem ier of canada hon wm hughes premier of australia and hon w a massey premier of new zealand and said their names were well-known and esteemed in the united kingdom as in their own land ivir lloyd george said he regretted that the premier of south africa could not be present hear hear at either this council or the one which had been held previously his absen ce was proof of his devotion to duty reference to india mr lloyd george specially wel comed the representatives of india the maharajah of pattiala he said worthily followed the great inherited tradition of attachment to crown and empire his gallant people fight side by side with the british who wel come them as worthy comrades mr lloyd george also welcomed the ma harajah of simila who was the first indian king's consul those guests from all the dominions said the brit ish premier represent the concensus of empire and real help in the time of real need mr lloyd george said the people of the dominions came the more read ily and eagerly into the fight because the old country got into trouble thru championing the sacred cause of free dom and right one of the greatest stories of the future ages would be of how the children when the mo rushed from the ends of the earth therland was beset by cruel foes to shield her with sturdy strength cheers the premier said the overseas dominions must have noticed the spec ial warmth of the greetings and re ceptions they had received since the war began for the old country was proud of them cheers the guests he said have come to take part in the great council of the empire which the most wonder ful federation of human beings the allies dominate i italian situation barrier of defence raised by entente forces from asiago plateau to sea insuperable to austrians who however continue their offensive on piave river—steady allied resistance everywhere italian forces gain jttpperi hand in almost every sector of front paris june 21.—the aus trian losses in their offensive on the italian front exceed 120 000 men according to a despatch to la liberte from rome quoting the correspon dent of the couriere d'ltalia i ondon june 21.—the barrier the italians and their allies have raised along the great battle area from the asiago plateau to the sea remains insuperable to the austrians the operations by which the enemy had hoped to press his way from the mountain peaks in the alps and across the piave river to the plains of venetiaj thus far have met with almost signal failure ♦ where the enemy was able in the mountains to press back slightly the allied defender of the front in the first day of their offensive the ground has been regained where he crossed the piave and apparently was threatening the plains with in vasion he now is being sorely har rassed at every point by the italians not a stalemate the battle is not a stalemate in the mountains the italians british and french troops seemingly have the upper hand along the piave from the montello plateau to the mouth of the river east of venice the italians notwithstanding vicious thrusts by the enemy here and there apparently are gaining the upper hand little fighting of moment is in progress with the invaders meeting resistance upon which they had not counted and being steadily pressed back toward the west bank of the now turbulent river which has swept away many of their pontoon bridges in the centre of the line leaving them , in a rather precarious predicament freshets have forced the river well out of its banks and the question of sending austrian reinforcements to the west side or conveying food and military supplies to the men already on the border of the plains has be come critical futile attacks hoping to alleviate the situation the austrians have again delivered attacks on the montello plateau the keystone to the plains but like the previous thrust they met with re pulse between the treviso railway bridge and the zenson loop the ' italians have pressed back the en emy closer towards the piave while at losson near the fasseta canal the enemy attacks were repulsed further down the stream a short distance from where it empties into ' the adriatic sea the italians in a daring assault north of cortellanzo pierced the enemy front took 200 j men prisoners and firmly held their ground against a counter-attack in the violent air fighting that is in progress all along the front ameri can aviators have joined the allied airmen and are performing daring feats among the enterprises car ried out by them has been the bomb ing of pontoon bridges thrown by the enemy across the piave empty stomachs continue to play an important role both with'the aus tro-hungarian armies and the people inside the dual monarchy prison ers taken by the italians are notice ably illfed troublous times prevail in cities : and towns in the empire and king dom because of the lack of food the people even officials are de clared to be at their wits end in endeavors to alleviate the situation ' the hungarian premier is said to have told parliament that the king dom has only one-fourth the food necessary to maintain the people in • health and that it would be hard to hold out until the new harvest is gathered west front still quiet except for the italian theatre lit tle fighting is in progress south west of soissons near faverolles and a little further south near hautves nes the french in more of their daily attacks have bettered their po sitions and taken prisoners from the germans in the tegions of arras and albert the british also have made gains and repulsed german attacks near merris on the flanders front the german official statement re cords the repulse of an american at tack northwest of chateau thierry in the maine sector and says the americans suffered heavy losses this . fl probably refers to the fighting of thursday in the belleau wood where the americans advanced their lines more than half a mile after the enemy had refused to accept the gage of battle italians on offensive rome june 21.—italian forces yesterday continued their offensive on the piave in the region of far garo and zenson and gained further ground from the austrians tha italian war office announced today austro-hungarian pressure continued strongly on the montello yesterday the war office states but everywhere the invaders were repulsed the austro-hungarians launched five heavy attacks on the italians west of piave but were exhausted by their exceptionally heavy losses the attackers we're forced to retire in face of italian resistance austrian efforts fail rome june 21 the efforts of the austrians to widen the north eastern salient on the montello pla teau the keystone of the piave front toward the west have failed pre mier orlando informed parliament last night the enemy's losses dur ing the day were enormous the pre mier added the italians took sev eral hundred prisoners toward the south the premier stated the enemy again succeeded in crossing the monte bell near thl sugana railway at several points neal the niversa station but was promptly stopped on the lower piave th italians gained more ground expect new attacks italian army headquarters juno 20 by the associated press the second phase of the austrian offen sive featured by attacks to the right and left of valstagna along the brenta river and in the mountains should logically begin soon now that the first effort has failed it is felt that if the austrians do not renew their efforts to pewetaate to the plains through the brenta re gion and taking monte grappa it would be an acknowledgement of defeat and their inability tp carry out the ambitious plan launched a week ago the situation however is still regarded as most serious and all preparations have been made to meet any new offensive along the piave the jtafian"po sitions are virtually unchanged the austrians are fighting wejl accord ing to the italians but tint latter are outclassing them « » « mr c h tranfield esmfc ver from heart's content yestbrdajr continued.on page a - continued on page 3 - • ii!l n(t.h linjllilhimimilumilllimlliiimullliimmiimiiiiihimmiimmi ( see our 1 i dress silks | 136 inch taffetta | | navy white & browns i 12.25 and 2.501 136 in mouselike ( | white creme sax i bro myrtle & crimson i ■ 2.70 | i 36 inch japs i ! navy bro pale blue i sax i 1.301 126 inch fancy stripes i i assorted 2.10 i 124 inch asstd checks i i 1 w i f ah at a 1 value ( e bowring 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