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GENERAL NEWS NOTES OF THE DAY. Peace by negotiation and perpetual reconciliation among nations is the German reichstag majority peace program, according to reports to the state department at Washington yesterday. An outline of the program of the majority, mainly center, progressives and social democrats, is reported to be as follows: "On August 4, 1914, the following words were spoken from the throne: We are impelled by no thoughts of conquest. On this platform the German people stand today as they did when the words were spoken. Germany has taken up arms only in defense of her liberty and independence and for the protection of her territorial possessions. The reichstag aspires to a peace by negotiation and a iierpetual reconciliation among nations. With a peace such as this, all annexations by force and all political, industrial and financinl measures undertaken by violence are incompatible. The reichstag disapproves all plans which leads to empty isolation and enmity among the peoples after the war. The freedom of the seas must be secured. Only an industrial peace will pave the way for a friendly intercourse among nations. However, so long as the enemies governments refuse pence on this basis, so long as they threaten Germany and her allies with conquest and force of arms, just so long will the German people stand together as one man fighting and persevering steadfastly until her own and her .allies right to live and develop shall be assured. In its unity the German people stand unconquerable. The reichstag feels itself to bo one with the men who in battle have so heroically guarded the front. The imperishable thanks of the entire people is their portion." In order to make draft exemptions absolutely fair, investigators, under the direction of the local bureau of investigation of the department of justice, will check up on each exemption and as a result, it will be unsafe for boards to show partiality. The government purposes to see that every exemption is justified. Rich mens sons are not to be granted exemption, even though they may be working on farms and poor mens sons will not be exempted unless they have dependents, assuming them to be physically fit- Awards for 2,175,000 pairs of shoes for the army have just been made by the quartermasters department, at an average price of .73 a pair. Deliveries of these shoes will begin immediately and will be completed before December 31 of the nrescnt year. The awards were made to twenty-one manufacturers after sealed bids from fifty-nine had been opened. The awards include 950,000 pairs of marching shoes and 1,225,000 pairs of field shoes. British armored motor detachments are taking part in the Russian offensive in Galacia, according to semiofficial information received yesterday at Washington from Petrograd by the Russian embassy there. This is the first mention of the presence of British forces in Russia and says tho armored cars are co-operating effectively with Belgian detachments sent there soon after the war began. Associated press dispatches from Petrograd bring information that another manifestation of armed sailors and soldiers and working men and women, in which shots were fired, took place along the Ncvsky Pro3pekt yesterday. Tlie extent of the casualties is not known. A dispatch of yesterday from Petrograd says that for the first time since the revolution Cossacks appeared today and patrolled the streets. Companies hero and there carried machine guns strapped to their saddles, the men leading their horses. After heavy shelling, the Germans tounterat tacked several times durirg the night in the Verdun sector, but failed to regain a parcel of ground captured by the French yesterday, according to the French war office statement of yesterday. Light agricultural implements that can be worked by hand are needed badly in China. Small hydraulic presses suitable for vegetable oils are especially wanted. It is not at present possible to introduce heavy machinery into this market. Brazilian coal deposits in the Peixe River valley are to be exploited by the government and a railroad company. American railway supplies and construction materials will be needed. A firm at Athens, Greece, desires to represent American manufasturers of bottles, brushes, canned goods, candies, clocks, copper und many other lines of goods.
