clasped in front of him. A short sentence, decisive or cynical, was generally sufficient, a question, an unqualified abandonment of his Ministers, whose face would not be saved, or a display of obstinacy reinforced by a few words in a piquantly delivered English. * * * My last and most vivid impression is of * * * the President (Mr. Wilson) and the British Prime Minister as the centre of a surging mob, and a babel of sound, a welter of eager impromptu compromises, all sound and fury signifying nothing, the great issues of the morning's meeting forgotten

and neglected; and of Clemenceau, silent and aloof on the outskirts-for nothing which touched the security of France was forward-throned, in his gray gloves, on the brocade chair, surveying the scene with a cynical and almost impish air; and when at last silence was restored, and the company had returned to their places, it was to discover that he had disappeared.

Mr. Keynes emphasizes throughout his book that M. Clemenceau got what he wanted for France, despite his silence

necessary alertness to overcome political chicaneries was not attained, nor even approximated. As an economist he takes the position that the basis of economics was almost utterly overwhelmed by "the weaving of that web of sophistry and Jesuitical exegesis that was finally to clothe with insincerity the language and substance of the whole treaty." He cites examples of language that he considers deliberately intended to confuse. He

are in continuous warfare with the nationalist Arabs and the nationalist Turks, when the Bolsheviki have entered Baku and the Georgians are trembling before the menace of a Soviet invasion of Batum, is not what might be called a haven of safety for man or woman. The conditions of anarchy prevailing have recently been emphasized in a most dramatic way. The French packet Souirah left Batum on May 6, en route to Marseilles. The steamer was crowded with refugees, fleeing from the uninterrupted advance of the Bolshevist tide into the

Caucasus. Most of them had converted their property into money to avoid confiscation by the Bolshevist leaders. Among these refugees was Mrs. Haskell, wife of Colonel William Haskell, Director General of American Relief in the Near East, and other ladies whose husbands have been connected with relief work in Armenia.

At 9 o'clock on the night of May 6 fifteen unknown men, who wore black masks and were apparently Russians, sprang up from various parts of the ship, where they had been booked either as passengers or as members of the crew, covered officers and passengers with revolvers and shouted warnings that they would kill any one who resisted them. For two hours they were busy robbing

every one of cash and jewels. Mrs. Haskell saved $20,000 in cash by hiding it in a waste-water receptacle in her cabin, but all her other money and $2,000 in jewels were taken from her. All the cabins were searched repeatedly. The pirates' guard over the wireless prevented the flashing of appeals to the allied warships cruising in the vicinity of Batum. Until 2 o'clock the next morning the passengers were terrorized, while the pirates forced the steamer to continue its way on a route dictated by themselves. Finally they went ashore in boats which they compelled the crew to man. The whole raid was evidently

At the height of his sway in Saxony this up-to-date bandit made raids on the smaller towns near Falkenstein Castle, burning the homes and destroying the property of all who refused to join his

army." His greatest exploit was that of demanding a tribute of 100,000 marks weekly from Plauen, the chief manufacturing town of that district. All the principal men were locked up, and the whole town was placed under guard by the outlaws until the first installment was paid.

After this feat Hölz decided that the climate elsewhere would be more conducive to long life, and, taking all his treasure, he started for Czechoslovakia in an automobile. But some of his duped followers, furious at his desertion of them, went in pursuit and helped to [ITALIAN CARTOON]

hasten his journey; barely had he crossed the frontier when he was seized by Czech soldiers and imprisoned at Eger, near Carlsbad. Hölz is a small, lithe, darkcomplexioned man, extremely energetic, of great calmness and assurance, a fluent

mother refused to accept this solution in view of the fact that Nicola was a weak and delicate boy, and that Rumania could not afford royal matrimonial escapades at a time when the country was just out of an expensive war, and surrounded by enemies watching for a chance to get back what the Peace of Versailles had given her. Queen, Parliament and Ministers therefore worked together once more, and finally persuaded Prince Carol to withdraw the let

ter in which he had renounced his royal rights and to promise to marry a Princess which the Rumanian Government should choose for him. In consenting to this plan he reaffirmed his love for the woman who has been his wife for a year or

more.

* * *

DEATH OF BISSOLATI

LEONIDA

BISSOLATI,

whose funeral was held in Rome on May 8, had been a picturesque figure, a man of robust intellect, virtually the leader of the Socialist Party in Italy for many years. An ardent patriot, whose slogan was Political honesty and love of country," he won the esteem of all, irrespective of party, and his writings and speeches were always received with the greatest respect. His work and teaching as editor of the Socialist paper Avanti did much to contribute to the complete democratization of the Italian Nation. A man of strong convictions, Bissolati left his party with the rise of the new and irresponsible Socialist element in Italy and elsewhere. His belief in political evolution, as against revolution, made it impossible for him to support the violent upheavals advocated by the Bolshevist apostles of the party of which he had been the soul for many years. Bissolati was an enthusiastic supporter of the allied cause during the

in defiance of the wishes of his parents and the Ministry, and who was placed under arrest for desertion from his regiment, while his marriage was declared .null and void, was supposed to have been definitely settled by the Prince's letter to the Rumanian Cabinet renouncing his right to the throne in favor of his younger brother Nicola. But the Queen