GERMAN OFFICIAL REPORT: "Our progress is maintained."] [German Cartoon] A Shaky Affair [Illustration: _--From Lustige Blaetter, Berlin._ THE TRIPLE VICTORY: "Confound it, there goes another pillar."] [English Cartoon] The Return of the Raider [Illustration: _--From Punch, London._ KAISER: "Well, I _AM_ surprised!" TIRPITZ: "So were we."] [Italian Cartoon] What Is There Inside? [Illustration: _--From L'Asino, Rome._ (The words that the observer has uncovered are as follows: _Militarism, Religious Mania, Megalomania, Loquacity, Homicidal Mania, Imperialism, Neronism_.)] [English Cartoon] "Sound and Fury" [Illustration: _--From Punch, London._ KAISER: "Is all my high seas fleet safely locked up?" ADMIRAL VON TIRPITZ: "Practically all, Sire." KAISER: "Then let the starvation of England begin!"] [English Cartoon] The Flight That Failed [Illustration: _--From Punch, London._ THE EMPEROR: "What! No babes, sirrah?" THE MURDERER: "Alas, Sire, none." THE EMPEROR: "Well, then, no babes, no iron crosses."] [English Cartoon] "A Fortified Town" [Illustration: _--From The Sketch, London._ A. Little Muddlecome, as known to its inhabitants. B. Little Muddlecome, the fortified town--according to Germany.] [South African Cartoon] No Family Resemblance [Illustration: _--From The Cape Times, Cape Town, South Africa._ THE GERMAN EAGLE (tearfully): "As bird to bird--surely _you_ won't desert me?" THE AMERICAN EAGLE: "Desert you! I'm an eagle, not a vulture!"] The Chances of Peace and the Problem of Poland By J. Ellis Barker [_From The Nineteenth Century and After, Leonard Scott Publishing Company._] A century ago, at the Congress of Vienna, the question of Poland proved extremely difficult to solve. It produced dangerous friction among the assembled powers, and threatened to lead to the break-up of the congress. The position became so threatening that, on the 3d of January, 1815, Austria, Great Britain, and France felt compelled to conclude a secret separate alliance directed against Prussia and Russia, the allies of Austria and Great Britain in the war against Napoleon. Precautionary troop movements began, and war among the allies might have broken out had not, shortly afterward, Napoleon quitted Elba and landed in France. Fear of the great Corsican reunited the powers.