Cher Peg LK. A | Epa ‘any G. Ponnerr 0 Seep yn tytn ene ee “Robbing Peter” The plan for a war grocery store, which is to come up for discussion in the Under- | graduate meeting today, has been care- fully conceived, and is in many respects admirable. To do away with the pur- chase of unpatriotic food elsewhere, a campus “Hoover” store, to which the College would pledge its exclusive pa- tronage, My at once a simple and effective Onlectinis to the project on the ground of the increased consumption of food— even though “patriotic” food—which an easily accessible campus store would en- courage, have to the Food Conservation Committee appeared to outweigh its ad- Tt is to be hoped that the College will do more with the new food conservation pledge than admire the flag on the cor- ' ner, The Serpent in the Garden There is an infection prevalent in col- lege that is more contagious and far more dangerous than the measles. Rumor, the College plague breaks out apparently without why or wherefore, and unless caught in its early stages, sometimes has quite serious results. People are sent to the Infirmary daily with the measles. Would that there were also some isolated place where rumor venders might be sent before they infect others! A Second Pennsylvania Philadelphians and others who have fol- lowed with interest the blunders of the University of Pennsylvania, from the ex- pulsion of Scott Nearing to the withhold- ing of a degree from Joseph Pennell, will perhaps enjoy The New York Trib- une’s comment on an analagous situation at Columbia: “Professor Ellery C. Stowell was one college professor who stood out very clearly for this country’s entry into the war. It is announced that he purposes to take up war work. “There is no hint, or taint, of a pacifist about him. “Professor Stowell, of high standing as a professor of international law, has re- signed from the faculty of Columbia Uni- versity. “This is the fifth Columbia professor to resign or be dismissed within a year. “These things do not seem to happen at Harvard or Yale, at Princeton or Cor- nell. ‘We hope there is no room in this coun- try, and certainly not in New York City. for another University of Pennsylvania.” LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The editors do not hold themselves respon- sible for opinions expressed in this column. To the Editor of the College News: We wish to take issue with the anony- mous critic who censures the Class of 1918 for dispensing with the compara- tively simple Class Book while retaining “the extravagant Commencement festivi- ties, including a before-the-war Garden Party”. If the Senior Class has decided that the “enjoyment for years to come” to be gleaned from the Class Book doés not compensate for the present expendi- ture of time, effort and money there seems little more to be said on that sub- ject. As far as Garden Party is concerned it will not be by any means the elaborate function our critic presupposes. Some way must be devised for entertaining our families and friends who are here for Commencement, and Garden Party, as it will be given this year, seems the sim- plest method of doing it. It will, in fact, be far less expensive than the many pri- vate teas which, if there were no Garden Party, would undoubtedly be the order of the day. M. S. Munford ‘18. BE. Houghton °18. long time Austria demurred. At length, ‘The pabliantion. was a. protest against secret diplomacy, ‘and not the least in- forming of the documents published was the argument by which England, France and Russia induced Italy to enter the conflict. As soon as Austria, in 1914, pro- ceeded against Servia, Italy began to ask for compensation. Compensation, she claimed, was due her in virtue of Article VII of the treaty by which the Triple Al- liance was formed in 1882. The article provided that, if either Austria or Italy should, for any reason, gain increased influence in the Balkans, the other power should be entitled to corresponding ex- pansion. As quid pro quo in the case of the moment, Italy intimated that she would prefer concessions, not in the Balkans, but from Austrian territory on her own northeastern frontier. For a however, impelled by German influence and by the desire to maintain Italian neu- trality, she consented to consider the Italian proposals. Active negotiations were under way from March to May, 1915. Transfer of Austrian lands at four points was asked for by Italy. She re- quested: 1, The cession of Trent and the neigh- boring territory (the Trentino); 2. A rectification of the Isonzo fron- tier which would give her the cities of Gradisca and Gorizia, together with a strip of the littoral reaching well round the head of the Adriatic; 3. The creation of Trieste, with the sur- rounding country, into a free port subject to neither country; and, 4. The cession of certain islands of the Dalmatian coast. To grant these requests would have been to cede what the Italians have long known as “Italia Irredenta”; for the jus- tification of the claims is that the popu- lations of the districts in question are largely Italian. Joined with the desire to round out a nation of Italian-speaking peoples was the wish to extend Italian prestige in the Adriatic. In the latter aspiration Italian ambitions came sharply into conflict with those of Austria, of Hungary, and of the Southern Slavs, each of these peoples attaining access to the sea solely on the eastern Adriatic coast. Of the four Italian requests, Austria, on April 17th, refused the last three. Only as regards the Trentino did she make concessions, but even here declined the boundaries asked. The Italian request that the transfer of ceded territory take place at once was also declined. On May ALUMNA NOTES Caroline Stevens ‘17 is sailing under the Red Cross to do refugee work among the children coming from Switzerland into France. She will go straight to Paris and be detailed there to a canteen or clinic. Miss Stevens was president of ! Self Government here last year and has been doing microscopic work on blood corpuscles this winter at the Massachu- setts General Hospital. Emily Van Horn ‘15 is private secretary to Mr. L. H. Shearman, a member of the Shipping Board. Anne Wildman has given up her Phila- delphia position under the Woman’s Committee of the Council of National De- fense, and is teaching in Leesburg, Va. Dr. Robert Speer to Preach Next Sunday | Dr. Robert Elliott Speer, Secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions in the | Presbyterian Church, will preach here | next Sunday evening. Mrs. Speer, Presi- dent of the Y. W. C. A., was instrumental last spring in changing the Bryn Mawr delegation from Eaglesmere to Silver Bay. May 4th better terms were conceded rel- ative to the Isonzo frontier, Gradisca being offered, and assurance was given that in Trieste the long-desired Italian university would be established and the | municipal statutes would be so revised as to safeguard “the national and cultural existence of the Italian-speaking popula- tion”. On May 10th the erection of Trieste into an “imperial free city” was proposed. Finally, on May 22d, Austria was ready to agree to the immediate transfer of territory, hitherto refused. On May 23d, however, Italy declared war. The course of the negotiations above described has been known since the pub- lication of the Austrian Red Book and the Italian Green Book. What our new- est information shows is that during the last month of the diplomatic exchanges with Austria, Italy was already com- mitted to an alliance with the Entente. On April 26th the agreement was signed in London, afd from that day. the am- bassadorial notes meant little. The final vigorous effort of Prince von Biilow had been foredoomed. The acquisitions as- sured to Italy “under the imminent treaty of peace” were liberal. They took from Austria all the Trentino with a part of Southern Tyrol; the cities and suburbs of Trieste, Gorizia, and Gradisca; all of Istria; and all of the province of Dal- matia. They were more extensive than the acquisitions ever demanded from Austria, and, if secured, would have given Italy control of the Adriatic. Not least interesting of the new pro- posed cessions is that of Dalmatia. This narrow strip of coast, with its numerous islands, reaches along the eastern Adri- atic to Albania. Its value is strategic rather than economic, since its produce is small and it comprises only three cities of more than 10,000 inhabitants, Of its population only 3 per cent is Italian, whereas the other districts promised by the treaty are largely occupied by Italians. Nearly 97 per cent of the in- habitants of Dalmatia are Slavs, akin to the peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina, provinces which constitute the Hinter- land. In the event of the annexation of Dalmatia to Italy the ambitions of the southern Slavs would be adversely af- fected. They, even more than Austria, would have ground for opposition. Of all the Italian expansionist claims, therefore, this is the one which critics of Italian foreign policy would, with most justice, hold up as indicative of imperialistic aims, COMPETITION FOR BEST THRIFT STAMP POSTER OPENS TO-DAY The Liberty Loan Committee is offering a reward of a War Saving Stamp, worth $4.14, for the best poster advertising thrift stamps. The poster will be judged on design and on the most appropriate slogan made from the initials W. S. S. The competition is open to all the War Saving Societies in the schools in Bryn Mawr and in the college. Posters should be given to C. Dodge, Pembroke Bast, | = before March 2ist. After the posters have been judged they will be exhibited, probably in Taylor. War Saving Stamps are on sale at the Loan Desk in the Library. PRESS BUREAU MATERIAL DUE All who have taken pamphlets to re- view for the Foreign Press Bureau are asked to return them by Monday, March lith, to P. Turle "18, chairman of the Education Department of the War Coun- : cil, Pembroke East. ‘Italy formally denounced ‘the Triple . ‘At once Germany, as well ‘98 Austria, | Billow, “German Ambassador. in Rome, | 3 took active part in the negotiations. On| “Fifth Ave. at g5th St. New York will display at MONTGOMERY INN THURSDAY and FRIDAY MARCH 21 and 22 The Spring Fashions of the College Girl TITTITTNTTTTINNTINAT NUTTIN IT in/TTTIITTINNi TT INITININTITTN1™ ITIL MTT TTT TTT TTT i LAALDAUAUULNELAETAAAAUL TAILLEUR SUIT S—Evi- dencing the new CUTA- WAY SILHOUETTE. STREET DRESSES, silk-and- wool, cut along war lines and proving that sparing the serge does not spoil the style. TT TTT PAULTLESSLY CORRECT plain-tailored suits, inclining just a bit toward the mannish. NORFOLKS and Riding Habits. the new WOOL JERSEYS —which feature the SUCCESS OF THE SEASON—the sleeve- less coat. BLOUSES—Habutai and Jap silk conveying new ideas in smart, separate shirts; sport styles in batiste; hand-made French blouses; distinctive Georgettes. AVVATVLTOATVOCT ETS D EEE ERTS SPEEA TTT TT A HALF DOZEN new ideas in everyday and evening bras- sieres. MUTT EXCLUSIVE DRESSES for the May-time parties and those for later Spring. Prac- tical frocks for every occasion of day and evening. Fresh dashing ginghams. AUT TT PETTICOATS, NEGLI- GEES and SILK UNDER- WEAR in shapes and shades new and charming. IMPORTANT ODDS AND ENDS for the costume that singles out. TTT UE EUAAVUES TAAEETU LH AMTTMTI PULTE (Further Announcement in Next Issue) Uy