THE SINN FEIN TRAITORS

The disclosure that the British Government has discovered a traitorous plot among the leaders of the Sinn Fein faction in Ireland to aid Germany in conquering Great Britain through a revolt in Ireland is astounding. It is officially stated that the Government has positive evidence as to a conspiracy between these leaders and Germany. It is semi-officially stated also that, so far as is consistent with public safety, the facts will be made public shortly; quite probably they may be known here when this is read.

A proclamation by the new Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Viscount French, asserts that British subjects resident in Ireland have entered into treasonable communication with the German enemy, and announces drastic measures on the part of the Government. One portion of this proclamation urges Irishmen to show their loyalty by entering into the common war effort. This has brought out from several sources an expression of the belief that the intention is to encourage voluntary recruiting in order to make conscription unnecessary.

In one respect the exposure of this conspiracy and the firmness of the Government in acting have had a clearing effect on the general situation. In Ireland there is a general tendency to disavow any sympathy with a repetition of the Casement treason and disloyalty. Not a few of the members of the Sinn Fein faction have put themselves upon record as being totally opposed to such folly and criminality.

The arrests made by the Government included many of the most notorious, if not the wisest, leaders of the Sinn Fein. Among those arrested were the President of the society, Professor Edward de Valera; Arthur Griffiths, who is said to have founded the society; Count George Plunkett, who was formerly a Member of Parliament; and the Countess Markievicz; with many others, not a few of whom were active in the Dublin revolt. Some of these were tried in connection with that revolt; having been set at liberty, they immediately entered upon this treasonable intercourse with Germany. The number of arrests was large; at first it was said that five hundred people had been taken into custody, but probably the number does not exceed one hundred.

Apart from this startling incident, the general situation as between the Irish factions is a complex of contradictions: The six recalcitrant counties of Ulster scorn any scheme of Home Rule that includes Ulster.

The National party rejects any scheme of Home Rule that does not include Ulster.

The Sinn Fein faction despises everything except immediate and complete independence.

Nationalists and Sinn Feiners agree in one thing that conscription would be an outrage unless Home Rule or independence were first granted.

Here is a pretty puzzle for the British Premier and the British Government! No solution will satisfy all of Ireland. The Government may introduce & new Home Rule bill which in its opinion is moderate and fair; indeed, it has announced its intention to do so. This is right; but it will not placate the clashing factions. Or the Government may temporize. This will make matters worse. Or the Governrient may declare that, whatever the future may be, Ireland is now as much a part of Great Britain as Devonshire, and that it must submit to the laws of Parliament as other sections of the country do, including the conscription law. This firm, drastic course would be amply jus

tified by the war situation. But it might entail revolution. The only other way out is that of federation; under that plan, Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales would be divided into civil districts, something like our States, which would have control each of its own local matters, while national and international matters should be dealt with by the Imperial Parliament. It may be noted that conscription under any of the plans above proposed would remain emphatically a national question. The federation plan is discussed in the English and Irish press, but so far there has been no popular enthusiasm for it. Long ago its logical soundness was considered in our columns. It may be that the Irish paradox is capable of being solved in this way only.

THE CHANGE IN QUEBEC

Something has happened in the province of Quebec. During the last week in March it seemed that the French-Canadians were practically a unit in their determined hostility to the enforcement of the Conscription Law and in their opposition to Canadian participation in the war. To-day the young men from the most prominent French-Carradian families are volunteering for service overseas, and their patriotic conduct is applauded by most of the newspapers that have hitherto been bitterest in their opposition.

Within a month after the Quebec riots nine young students from Laval University, in that city, were leaving for overseas. All were members of distinguished French-Canadian families. All bore names that are names to conjure with in their province. All belong to the "directing" class in a province that is easily swayed by its own leaders. At their head was the son of the Premier of the province.

Laval University professors and students turned out en masse to cheer the departing volunteers; and it is certain now that a large proportion of the student body will voluntarily follow the nine who have led the way. The newspapers of the province --with a few notable and stubborn exceptions-are now urging obedience to the Conscription Law and the voluntary enlistment of men not at present affected by the draft.

Something has happened. It is believed in exceptionally well-informed Canadian circles that the recent visit to Quebec of Archbishop Mathieu, of Saskatchewan, had much to do with the change. An enthusiastic advocate from the first of a vigorous, win-the-war policy, it is known that he has been seriously alarmed as to the future consequences to the French-Canadian race and its Church of further stubborn opposition to the policy of the majority. It is believed that, with the able assistance of Abbé d'Amours, who retired the other day from the editorship of "L'Action Catholique," he was able to persuade the Quebec hierarchy of the folly of their policy. The plain truth seems to be that the young men of Quebec have been held back by their lay and clerical leaders. When encouraged by these leaders to enlist, they will not be slow in doing their duty. The trouble in Quebec has always been more the fault of the influential leaders of the people than of the people themselves.

NEW POWER FOR THE PRESIDENT

No individual in all history has had the command of political powers and material resources equal to those which have been put by Congress at the disposal of President Wilson. The measure familiarly known by the name of its introducer in the

Senate as the Overman Bill has become law. Under its provisions virtually the entire executive and administrative branch of the Government can be reorganized and used for war purposes as the President directs.

By enacting this law Congress has yielded to the Executive a large part of the powers with which it is invested by the Constitution. Acting under this law, the President can assign executive and administrative authority and apportion administrative and executive work to whomsoever he chooses; he can shift employees from one department or one bureau or one commission to another; he can unite or divide departments and bureaus; he can make the Council of National Defense, for instance, superior in authority to both the War Department and the Navy Department if he wishes; he can take the whole task of the production of military and naval aircraft away from the Signal Corps of the Army, as he did, in fact, immediately upon signing the bill; he can take the direction of military aircraft from the War Department and of naval aircraft from the Navy Department and put all together under a new department; he can create a War Cabinet; he can do practically what he pleases with all the agencies of the Government so long as Congress is willing to appropriate money to carry out his orders. He need feel no longer any restriction of law or of regulations upon his freedom of action.

The strange thing is that this vast power has been given to the President by Democrats, proverbially committed to distrust of the Executive even when weak, and to distrust of the concentration of power in any one man, and has been done at the urgent request of a Democratic President. As a measure of what war can accomplish, this is quite as striking as any change in the map. What is equally impressive is the fact that this measure passed the House of Representatives by a vote in which the only opposition recorded was that of two members.

Many Representatives loth to take this action saw the necessity of bringing order and unity into the prosecution of the war by the American Government, and, since the President had asked for the power to enable him to bring about that unity without the aid of Congress, they felt that by voting to give him that power they could hold him responsible for its

use.

Those who fear that this power conferred upon President Wilson may lead to the dangers of a dictatorship may well keep in mind what Senator Lenroot said in an eloquent speech at the recent annual meeting of the National Security League in New York City. Senator Lenroot, who is a Republican, stated that he had in every instance voted as a member of Congress in support of measures to confer new and greater powers upon the President. His ground for this action has been that there was more danger to the country of failing to win the war by not giving the President enough power than there was of imposing upon the country a dictatorship by giving the President too much power. He declared that the country is saved from the danger of dictatorship both by our system of government and by the Constitution itself; that, no matter what powers are to-day granted by Congress, they can to-morrow be taken away by Congress; and that, even if they are not taken away by Congress, or if the President with such powers should so dominate Congress as to make it wholly amenable to his will, the powers granted by such a bill as the Overman Bill are wholly temporary and ephemeral under the war powers provisions of the Constitution, and that they are sloughed off automatically when peace is established.

If the President succeeds now in bringing efficiency rapidly into the management of the war without creating abuses, he will have earned the praise of the members of Congress who have given him this power. In the passage of this law the political supporters of President Wilson may take pride, but they also may find reason for sober reflection upon the necessity under which the President now lies to justify the action.

A NEW EPOCH IN GOVERNMENT MAIL SERVICE

Wednesday, May 15, will be long remembered as the date of a most important forward step in the development of rapid transportation of the United States mails.

Many people can still remember the old overland stage

routes in the West, and the many picturesque features which marked the regular delivery of the mails despite frequent attacks by Indians and desperadoes. The stage-coach was gradually supplanted by our great system of railways, which have handled the mails quickly and efficiently.

The inauguration of the Government Aerial Mail Service by the "cloudland route" now offers almost unlimited possibilities for quick mail delivery. This service was officially opened be tween New York, Philadelphia, and Washington on May 15, and daily trips will be made each way whenever the weather mits. The start from the New York end was made from Bel mont Park, on Long Island, which will be used by the Goven.. ment as a regular aerial postal station.

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A special train conveyed Postmaster Thomas G. Patten, of New York, Mr. Byron R. Newton, Collector of the Port of New York, Alan R. Hawley, President of the Aero Club of America, and other officials and newspaper men to the field to witness the initial flight. The honor of carrying the first aerial mail fell to Lieutenant Torrey H. Webb, a Regular Army aviator. The airplane used was built by the Curtiss Company. with a Hispano-Suize motor and capable of maintaining a speed of ninety-five miles per hour. Lieutenant Webb carries 144 pounds of mail, including 2,457 pieces.

The special mail for this trip left the Pennsylvania Terminal in New York at 10:45. It reached Belmont Park about 11:15, where it was quickly transferred to a mail truck and rushed onto the field, where Lieutenant Webb was waiting to receive it. At exactly 11:30 (schedule time) the plane rose gracefully from the ground and circled twice around the field. After climbing to an altitude of between three thousand and four thousand feet, it headed toward the southwest and rapidly disappeared from sight. At the same hour a postal airplane left Washington for New York.

Lieutenant Webb reached Philadelphia at 1 P.M. A delay of six minutes occurred there in delivering the Philadelphia mail and transferring the Washington mail to a relay plane. The second plane, driven by Lieutenant J. C. Edgerton, reached Washing. ton at 2:40 P.M. The actual flying time for the entire trip was three hours and twenty minutes. The fastest train between New York and Washington makes the trip in five hours.

In a brief speech delivered at the Belmont Park field, Mr. Alan R. Hawley touched on the wonderful possibilities for aerial mail service which are immediately ahead of us. He predicted that Government aerial mail routes would rapidly be established between all important cities, and that the saving in time would be very great, especially between points where the rail connections are slow and uncertain. It is understood that aerial service will soon be established between New York and Boston, and will then be extended to other points.

The present rate of aerial postage is twenty-four cents per ounce. Special air service stamps have been put on sale in the post offices in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. Such mail is treated as special delivery mail at its destination. The extra cost of airplane delivery is therefore only eleven cents over that of the ordinary special delivery letter.

THE PEOPLE AND THE RED CROSS

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"Red Cross Week" is half over as we write. It will end before most of our readers have seen this issue of The Outlook. If one may judge by the evidence of enthusiasm and generosity on the part of the people everywhere, the result will more fulfill the expectations of those who have planned the campaig with remarkable efficiency and thoroughness. If any one failed to contribute to this fund of mercy, it certainly has t been because he lacked opportunity or has been left in ign rance of its purpose. It is notable also that the appeal has be to the heart rather than to the sense of duty. One of the Re Cross posters says, "The Red Cross Means You," and in al the appeals art and language have been used to arouse sentimentalism, but the wish to help. The emphasis has not be laid upon the official functions of the Red Cross, or upon tics or organization or the vast sums spent and how they ar spent. Rather, Americans have been made to see and feel that they are not giving to the Red Cross, but that they are using the Red Cross as their agent to heal and help the wounded and

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the suffering. To quote another Red Cross poster, "The Red Cross is the Warm Heart of America."

Most notable among the many preliminary demonstrations that preceded the actual work was the great Red Cross parade in New York City. It was proof overwhelming of the interest of President and people, and of the vastness of the Red Cross itself. At one time Fifth Avenue for three and one-half miles was filled from curb to curb with lines of Red Cross women in their uniforms, of which there were many varieties, ranging from those of the fully equipped hospital unit ready to sail to-morrow to those of the smallest working auxiliary of some little church, or to school children enrolled in the Junior Red Cross and mostly actually engaged in Red Cross work. Men Red Cross workers and a dozen or two bands were interspersed, but the visual effect was that of endless white waves of women. How many thousands of these Red Cross workers there were we do not know, but their stream seemed endless. It was followed by an almost equally enormous procession of soldiers, sailors, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Naval Reserves, Police, and civic organizations, all by their participation showing their sympathy and approval of the cause. The hundreds of thousands of onlookers must have learned then, if they did not know before, the extent, the activity, and the varied forms of service of the American official relief organization.

To the intense delight of the people, President Wilson at the last moment, and solely of his own volition, placed himself at the head of the parade and marched with the Red Cross flag in his hand for miles, leaving the procession at Madison Square, where the reviewing stand was placed.

Mr. Henry P. Davison, head of the National Red Cross War Council, put in a few words the keynote of the present campaign when he said: "I hope there are no American men and women who do not realize that their contribution is in no sense a gift, but an act of protection and of justice as well."

THE PRESIDENT ON THE RED CROSS AND THE WAR President Wilson's address in New York expressed the same ideal for Red Cross effort when he said: "When you give something of your heart, something of your soul, something of yourself goes with the gift, particularly when it is given in such form that it never can come back by way of direct benefit to yourself. . . . These things are bestowed in order that the world may be a fitter place to live in, that men may be succored, that homes may be restored, that suffering may be relieved, that the face of the earth may have the blight of destruction taken away from it, and that wherever force goes there shall go mercy and helpfulness." And again: "The duty of the Red Cross is the duty of mercy and succor and friendship."

The President's address in New York was the first he has made in the metropolis since the country's entry into the war, and the public was eager to know whether he might make some new declaration in relation to important public questions. His emphasis was on the prime necessity of winning the war. Perhaps the single phrase that attracted most attention bore in this direction. He said:

There are two duties with which we are face to face. The first duty is to win the war. And the second duty, that goes hand in hand with it, is to win it greatly and worthily, showing the real quality of our power not only, but the real quality of our purpose and of ourselves. Of course the first duty, the duty that we must keep in the foreground of our thought until it is accomplished, is to win the war. I have heard gentlemen recently say that we must get five million men ready. Why limit it to five million?

I have asked the Congress of the United States to name no limit because the Congress intends, I am sure, as we all intend, that every ship that can carry men or supplies shall go laden upon every voyage with every man and every supply she can

the west involves a reservation with regard to the east." Extremely significant was his statement: "I intend to stand by Russia as well as by France. The helpless and the friendless are the very ones that need friends and succor."

There could hardly have been a finer appreciation of the mission of relief work in this war than that contained in the following words of President Wilson:

"Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together. And this intimate contact of the great Red Cross with the peoples who are suffering the terrors and deprivations of this war is going to be one of the greatest instrumentalities of friendship that the world ever knew; and the center of the heart of it all, if we sustain it properly, will be this land that we so dearly love."

ORGANIZED BOYHOOD

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In their interest in various fine American organizations that are helping to win the war, such as the Red Cross, the Y. M. C. A., the Knights of Columbus, the Salvation Army, patriotic Americans ought not to forget the Boy Scouts of America. The Scouts have just made a remarkable record of service in the Third Liberty Loan campaign. They did well in the first two Liberty Loan drives, but their achievements in the third campaign are especially notable because they acted as gleaners after the reapers. The rules enjoined upon them in their solicitation of subscriptions were drastic. They were forbidden by the orders of their organization to solicit subscriptions in banks or other places where purchasers had presented themselves for the obvious purpose of subscribing for bonds. The Boy Scout could not count for his record a corporation subscription unless he had appeared in person before the Board of Directors of the corporation and they had given him a signed statement to the effect that the Scout's argument actually persuaded the corporation to the purchase of bonds. Every effort was made in this way to prevent the Scouts from putting into their record subscriptions which they had not clearly earned, and also to prevent the splitting of subscriptions merely for the friendly purpose of aiding a Scout.

The Scouts did not begin their canvass until the final two or three days of the campaign, which lasted from April 7 to May 4 inclusive. At this writing all the tabulated records have not been completed, but the returns that have been filed show that the Boy Scouts throughout the United States obtained over 400,000 subscribers, amounting to $51,000,000.

Some of the reports from particular troops of the Boy Scouts are full of human interest. In Lakewood, New Jersey, for example, sixty scouts out of a troop of seventy-seven qualified for the War Service emblem, which is a medal suspended from a bar and given to the scout who secured ten or more subscrip tions from "independent buyers." The Lakewood Scout-master says:

Much money came out of hiding. One farmer brought in a bunch of money all musty; it must have been under the parlor carpet. There were twelve hundred dollars; he took twelve onehundred-dollar bonds.

The Scout executive of Bridgeport, Connecticut, where the Boy Scouts sold considerably over one hundred thousand dol lars' worth of bonds, says:

Our firemen, policemen, and Minute Women also made a houseto-house canvass during the fore part of the campaign. It is a conundrum to most people where the Scouts scraped up any amount to speak of. However, we scratched the city somewhat like a hen scratches gravel, and consequently few worms escaped.

The Boy Scouts in all communities not only solicited subscriptions for Liberty bonds, but served as messengers, billposters, stump speakers, and as distributers of all sorts of patriotic literature. The Scout-master of a Long Island town in which there are many inhabitants of German birth or ancestry reports that the Boy Scouts' campaign had much to do with modifying the pro-German sentiment of certain portions of the inhabitants. The Boy Scouts circulated a German translation of President Wilson's Flag Day speech, which made a manifest impression. The Boy Scouts deserve the fullest support of the fathers and mothers of this country. There are now enrolled