St. John's Daily Star, 1918-06-27

              the st john's daily star volume iv 3.00 per annum newfoundland thursday june 27 1918 probs light winds fair and cool no 138 file copy fot to be taivea-awai austrians still retreat before italians italian troops ha ye driven all foe forces across pia ye kerensky in britain — hun raider busy huns build naval port irermans erect naval esj tablishment at trieste without permission from the austrians ustrian defeat • vexes the huns flneva june 26 la suisse says it learns the austrian defeat in italy has caused profound dejection in vienna where demonstrations s^e taking place in the streets and at prague where the inhabitants are demanding peace tl he german press is sarcastic con rning the retreat of the austrians s an example the stanz zeitung ks must german troops be con mally diverted from the important cstern front to bolster up our weak it is reported that the germans have begun to build a naval port at trieste entirely independent df the austrian authorities who were not consulted the purpose is supposed io be the establishment of german commerce in austrian ports after the war all the commanding officers of trieste since the loss of the austrian dreadnoughts-are germans the aus trians are only in nominal command ■ » ■ people arriving from that section say there is a good sign of fish at port an port and neighborhood her ring and caplin bait however are re ported very scarce foe raider operates in w indian waters supposed to be mother ship of u-boats which have been sinking craft off coast of america * subs are near * washington june m 26 shipping oper ating in the area east ** of longitude forty between the latitude ** of cape race and ** bermuda has been ■^ warned of enemy ?* activity the navy de **■ partment today an ** m nounced . m no explanation was given but a re ** port of a german .**. m raider in that vicinity was brought to an "**■ american port yes terday by an incom ing steamer jjorfolk va june 27.—reports of the presence of a fast and heavily armed german raider in west indian waters were brought here to-day by masters of vessels arriving from cent/il and south america the ship is said to be of the cruiser type with a rakish build and clean lines i the fact that the raider made no ef i fort to attack at least two vessels which sighted her led the captain to believe that she is a mother ship for the submarines which recently were operating off the atlantic coast the raider first made her appear ance 200 miles east of hamilton bermuda where she is reported to have sunk a large british steamship two american merchantships were shelled but managed to escape the raider was described as about 270 feet long with a speed estimated at from 15 to 20 knots an hour some of those who sighted the craft expressed the belief that she was a former fruit steamer plying be tween the united states and central america which had been captured and armed by one of the submarines operating off the coast in their opin ion the vessel was manned by some of the seventy odd men reported to have been in the crew of one of the submarines it is also said that the british and american navies have been notified of the presence of the raider in the west indian waters and that steps are being taken to protect shipping c p r steamers are torpedoed pomeranian ana tlt^jora are sunk off british isles ■ an atlantic port june 27.—the canadian pacific steamships pomer anian and medora have been sunk by german submarines according to information brought here by the captain of a vessel arriving from ng land the sinking occurred only a few miles west of the british is'ss both ships were bound for american ports only the second engineer of a crew of sixty of the pomeranian was saved the captain asserted that no trace was ever found of the other members of the crew after the yes sel following a muffled explosion in the hold settled in shallow water the crew of the madora took to the boats when their ship was tor pedoed the u-boat commander is said to have made the captain wire less operator and chief gunner pris oners « » _ politicial truce ends british labor party de cides to no longer sub merge party interests to help authorities country is sick of government jondon june 26.-the british labor party at its conference held here today passed a resolution to the effect that the party political truce which has been in effect in great britain since early in the war should no longer be recognised delegates representing 1,704,000 votes favored the resolution while representatives of 5,000 votes were against it arthur henderson former member cf the cabinet without portfolio in moving die resolution that the poli tical truce should be no longer recog nised said that if the resolution were read along with the context it could have no other meaning but that-the truce should no longer be recognised regarding bye-elections there has been no signed truce be ] tween the labor party and the gov ernment since lloyd george came in to power mr henderson continued as the government desired to include j words which the labor party wouldn't , accept robert smilliee leader of the mm ; ers organisation expressed surprise at i mr henderson's statement we are going to end the truce 1 today he said for the country is as sick of the truce at it is of the government v kerensky now in gt britain former premier of russia reaches london where he addresses labor conference and prophecies russia will get into war again famous russian will visit u s to secure aid for his country i london june 26.—alexander kerensky former premier of russia reached london incognito four days ago since then he has moved about quietly though busily conferring with prominent russians in england over the necessity of entente allied assistance in russia he expects to go to america in a week or ten days kerensky was introduced to the jffrftfsji jabor conference here this afternoon and was received by the delegates with loud cheers keren sky told the labor conference dele gates : i have just come straight from moscow and it is my duty as a statesman and a socialist to tell you and the people of the whole world that the russian people the russian democracy are fighting against the tyranny i believe indeed i am certain added the former premier that the russian people will shortly join you in the fight for the great cause of freedom scenes of disorder at the conclusion of kerensky's speech there were scenes of consid erable disorder one delegate asking the reason for kerensky's appear ance and whom he represented the chairman replied that he wasn't in the conference of kerensky and didn't know whom he represented we don't want any government plant here was the retort if kerensky is allowed here why not troclstra referring to pietere j troclstra the dutch socialist who was not allowed to enter england to attend the conference . the chairman answered that to ask such a question in the presence of a distinguished gentleman like kerensky would not only be an insult but an outrage there we're further interruptions and some disorders the interrupt ing delegate refused to obey the chair until the conference passed a reso lution almost unanimously that he should be ordered to withdraw when he left the conference kerensky's appearance before the laborites was a complete surprise spoke in russian when arthur henderson minister with portfolio in the british war council and former labor leader in the house of parliament introduced him he spoke in russian his re marks were interpreted to the as semblage he began with an ex pression of thanks saying i am very much impressed by the reception ac corded me i don't take it as an expression of sympathy toward me it is an expression of sympathy to ward the russian democracy which is fighting for the ideals so dear to us all . . . kerensky's mission in england and the purpose of his visit to america is to inform the people of the two countries especially the influential russians of the exact conditions in russia with a view of securing allied aid for that country m nabokoff charg d affairs of the russian em bassy in london told the associated press coining unheralded the unheralded appearence in london of alexander kerensky for mer premier of russia together with his announcement that he is on his way to the united states and that he is certain russia soon will be fighting again with the forces of democracy against german domina tion furnishes the subject for a dis cussion in official and diplomatic cir cles that covers a wide range as there apparently has been no intima tion of kerensky's intention to visit this country speculation naturally centered around his purpose in com ing ihe belief seems to be general that he not only will seek to enlist the support of his own people in this country in his efforts to rehabilitate russia and cast off the german yoke but will discuss the subject with officials as well * appearing as he does at a time when the united states and the entente governments are earnestly considering how they may best aid russia to rid herself of german influence cftid establish a stable government the visit of the one-time dictator of the stricken na tion is regarded by officials as having many and far-reaching possibilities another russ visitor with the appearance of kerensk/in london john sookine kaue.xande.fc war aims of germany still bloodthirsty ■ yon kuehlmann in speech made in reichstag re plying to mr asquith shows militarists war ambitions are un changed refuses pledge to free belgium amsterdam june 27.—dr yon kuehlmann german foreign sec retary speaking in the reichstag with reference to russia said it is impossible to believe the great process of fermentation and wild ir regular movement of conflicting forces which the disappearance of the czaristic power released has reached a permanent equilibrium all condi tions in the former empire of the czar must to a certain extent be described as uncertain our policy in view of the situation is close obser vation and utmost caution and so far as purely internal affairs are concern ed correspondingly wise reserve the leaven of national fermenta tion within the russian body politic led to the detachment and severance of a whole series of entities which have partly attained full national status and are partly developing to ward that end finnish situation in finland the battle had decided in favor of the party which was striv ing for finland's independence the soil of finland has been cleared of red guards and everything points to finland being about to develop that high culture which is hers in the form of an independent state the secretary said the number of german troops which participated in the battles in finland at the latters request was small but they undoubt edly contributed a share in shaping events by the treaty of brest-litovsk he said courland and lithuania were severed from the russian empire it was from the outset clear to the ne gotiators that the position of the baltic region by the line fixed in the peace treaty was bound to create an extraordinary difficult situation it was hard for the litovsk population to en dure the prospect of being cooped up eastern situation the historical internal cohersion of the entire battle region suggested at that time objections against the pos sibility of a lasting separation between livonica esthonia and courland but conditions arising from the difficult situation created on the one part by the complete dissolution of the rus sian state and on the other for us by tire desire and necessity of arriv ing at c certain seettlement in the east involved for us the necessity of con cluding peace as it was done in agreement with the entire ger man public we resolved to give ear to livonia's appeal for help and re place the reign of terror carried on by the red guards by a reign of peace and order the inhabitants of these provinces mindful of the misgovern ment and terrible sufferings which tney must endure turned to the ger man authorities the imperial government from the outset took the stand that it was highly desirable before giving diplo matic recognition to the states which detached themselves from the former russian empire to come to an under standing with russia as to the form the recognition of such states should take this line of conduct will not be departed from after referring to the discussion which had taken place with the soviet government dr kuehlmann said that a conference was about to take place • in berlin under his presidency at which an attempt would be made to bring about a friendly agreement on all points still pending i can express the hope that the d.'scussions will completely correspond i with the requirements and wishes of ' the populations there and to the in 1 terests of the german people the ; secretary added i will not go more closely into 1 the future of courland and lithuania 1 which lie mainly within the domain 1 of the home department 1 in the course of his address dr yon kuehlmann paid tribute to the ueutraj states which had done every thing to mitigate the suffering of woundsd prisoners and which had offered if need be the hospitality of their countries for a discussion be tween the belligerents he added any fears that some change might occur in the strict observance of spanish neutrality appear to be at ptesent in no way justified in america some small states un der the ever-increasing pressure of the united states have joined the army but no substantial changes in the position have taken place - the imperial government's policy is to do what can be done to render impos sible the enery of further neutral states in the ranks of our enemies speaking of the military situation he said that victories had given the germans the initiative in france and he continued we can hope that the summer and autumn will bring to our arms a great and new success austrian operations the austro-hungarian army also has in a dashing onslaught attacked italian positions and achieved note worthy successes and pinned down large and important enemy forces on that front when one makes a wide survey of events one must ask wheth er tne war according to human cal culations will last beyond the autumn or the winter or beyond next year there is a common idea among the people that the length,of the war is something new as if authoritative quarters had in our time never reck oned on a very long war this idea is incorrect dr yon kuehlmann cuoted yon moltke who in 1890 in the reichstag said that if war broke out its duration and end couldn't be calculated despite the brilliant successes of our armies continued the secretary there has been nowhere clearly recog nisable among our enemies a readi ress for peace the german govern ment has repeatedly laid down its standpoint in declarationns intended for the widest publicity our enemies have nothing to show that can in any degree compare with the german peace offer with the resolutions of this house or with the reply to the papal note the declarations of our enemies es pecially of english statesmen allow as yet no peaceful ray of light to fall on the darkness of this war . referring to mr balfour's speech in which the british foreign secretary sai3 that.germany had unchained the var to achieve world domination yon kuehlmann said i don't be lieve that any responsible man in ger many not the kaiser or the members of the imperial government ever be lieved they could win the domination in europe by starting the war the idea of world domination in europe is a utopia as approved by napoleon the nation which tried it would as happened to france bleed to death in useless battle and would *■ m . minister's pronouncement strongly criticised by some of german news papers which express opinion it will keep war breach wide open fear gt britain will be irritated be most grievously injured and hind ered in her development one may nere apply yon moltke's phrase woe to him who sets europe afire question of belgium at no moment of our later history ' was there less occasion for us to start or contribute to the starting of a conflagration than the moment in j t f which it occurred in a former de bate i pointed out the absolute integ rity of the german empire and its allies formed the necessary prerequis ite condition for entering into a peace discussion of negotiations and that is our position today from england the reproach is con slantly made that we are not pre pared to state our attitude publicly on the belgian question on this point the fundamental views of the imperial i government differs from those ascrib ed to us by english statesmen we regard belgium as one question in the entire complex situation we i must however decline to make as i it were a prior concession by giving a statement on the belgian question which-would bind us without in the ' least binding the enemy mr balfour moreover by way of precaution has added that we must in no way imag ine that any agreement on the belgian question exhausts the stock of english or entente wishes he prudently abstained from des cribing these points in which he in tends to announce more far reaching claims or desires the supposition is not justified by previous experiences that while these words on the one hand were addressed to paris on the other hand covetous desires floated a cvoss the mediterranean to the parts of palestine and mesopotamia at pres ent occupied by the british troops i hear already the justification which will be duly given for such de sires namely that england could not possibly make such sacrifices of blood and treasure without reserving for her self most of the gains peace offers unwise as regards the probable course of events the imperial chancellor and i have previously declared that in the present stage of development far going advances on the road to peace can hardly any longer be expected from public statements which we show to each other from the speakers tribunes we too can adopt the words spoken by mr asquith here yon kuehlmann quoted from mr asquiths speech of may 16th in which the former premier said the british government would not turn a deaf ear to a peace proposal if it jj was not couched in ambiguous terms ™ we likewise he added can make * the same declaration knowing that it s also our policy once the moment ar r.-ves when i cannot prophesy that the nations which are at present lock ed in battle will exchange peace views one of the preliminary conditions j must be a certain degree of mutual i confidence in each other's honesty and i chivalry for so long as every over i ture is regarded by others as a peace i offensive or as a trap or as something i false something with a purpose of • sowing disunion among allies so long as every attempt at a rapproachment j is at once violently denounced by the $ enemies of a rapproachment in the | various countries so long will it be \ impossible to see how any exchange | of ideas leading to peace tan be be gun our position on the battlefields cur enormous military resources and tne situation and determination at .'} home permit us to use such language j we hope that our enemies will per ceive that in view of our resources i the idea of victory for the entente is 1 a dream and an illusion and that they j will in due course find a way to ajv j baron yon kuehlmann continued on page a continued on page 2 i;!!l!!!!!ii!;!!s!!l!lllilllllllllllll!ll!!ll!llllll!ll!lllll!lllll!l!lillllllllllllll!lll!!l!l i now is your time i 1 ladies i ready to wear i hats i 1 a big variety in | | colors and styles | prices 1.401.701 1 2.00 2.95 3.251 i 4.60 up | ichildrens 1 | ranging from 1 i 90c to 1.981 1 jack tars 1.30 each | call early-getyour choice-value a 1 j jbowring bros ltd j