The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-11-20

Al. the En- .sa histories have preser> Ell
the LEGEND @. that Queen Mary VINO DC
clared that after her death Calais would
be found written on her heart. To-day
II "a not less clear that the same rane has
heer written on the heart OF william H.,
that the possession OF this town ana the
eastern shores OF the straits OF Dover has
FOR him a value which is now being es;i-
mated in the lives OF his soldiers.
What. then. is ;h.s value? What Is
really the explanation OF this desperate
ba;tle OF Flanders now entering Its sixth
week. a battle IN which German lives nave
been sacrificed without stint? In the hrsi
place It IL fairly plain that the answer ~
not to be found In any military consideFa'
ton. II the purpose OF the Kaiser Is to
get 20 Paris he could certainly attain MS
object with no greater cost II he resumed
Operations far south, where his line IS s,!li
within seventy miles VI the FrehSh caP'-
tai. D..
II the explanation Is not military Il IS
then political Fortunately MaximiIlan
Harden, the O. II. Shaw OF Gerrnany-or
is Shaw the Harden OF Britain !--suppHes
"A clue in his latest suggestion ihat W"en
Germany has taken the litue orocN VI
French territory between her b-lE!ah con-
quests ana sax water sN' sHpu'b w go
peace. In other words. in Hordens m.ha'
Calais taken Germany Will pe satisfied
Now ~ any one cares to 20 oaCk NJ
tie into that great mass oI H'"r"'ui e
which !s classified as Pan-GeTinan ne Wi!
discover "A number OF mans, pretty muth
alike all OF which In some fashion maj
. cate what 10 the PRn-tirrman MIND shouId
be- Germany's rlshtful place IN the Euro
bean sun And without exception tnes"
maps all Include Belgium and that corner
OF northern France between Bouiogne AMI
DunKirk on the Channel. Win the maps
are full and extended explanations
These explanations are of TWO Sorts
First there Is set forth the claim o! Ge'-
many. This claim rests on the fact that
the larger part OF this territory ~ m
hahited by Flemish speaking people. and
Flemish Is low German dialect. ran
ders too was At one time portion OF that
Iernan Empire which preceded the ruiz
of the Thirty Years war. for every Ger
man the greatest tragedy In history
For many years, then. there has ex
!st,d In Germany an Influential srouI
who have steadily argued that He Giun
and French Flanders, including cd!ai'
and BouloEre, should be reconquered 10y
!, Germany, mat the retailing of Aisa'e
Lorraine vas only first step TOWARD
the rebuilding OF the greater Germany.
Germany Has small seafront.
Blu. aside from these more or Les
sentimental reasons there are practica
reasons of great weight. AS It nov
stands Germany IL confined to mar
row frontage on the open sea betweel
! the mouth OF tho E,be and the Dutc
frontier. Her natural sea front Is oc
cupied by the two states of Hollan
} and Belgium. which owe their past I'm
! munity to the strength OF Great Britain
Antwerp and Rotterdam, the naturs
ports of Germany, are In allen terrtor,
But Antwerp and Rotterdam both take
by Germany. she would Sill be at
, DISADVANTAGES 80 long M France ant
England, her enemies, held both shore
OF the narrow Straits OF Dover.
I on the other hand, II Germany coul
= win the battle OF Flanders and TAX
. Calais. Boulogne and Dunklrk sh
, would then have entered into possessio
OF practically all the territory that he
most extreme Pan-Germsns hav
claimed. 1t Ia true that she had plannc
| 10 take Paris and crush France, br
, even after France had been crushed he
, programme included inconsiderable tel
. rltorial demands, France was to pa
y the cos, of the war, hut save In a Re
. frontier districts was 10 suffer no tel
a ritorial losses.
From the very start Germany ha
recognized that England was her rel
enemy but so long as England was PR
tected by neutral Holland and Belgium
as well as hostile France. II was next
r impossible for Germany to come 10 grip
A German fleet AT lleligoland could hay
but q fraction Of the value that T. won
"a have rs a weapon against Englnnd
n the Scheldt, with secondary base
d Dunkirk Moreover, It should never
mistaken that the ultimate purpose OF 4
n Germany is to get ~ England, the OF
n real rival
IS Now IL Germany could get possessIt
re Of the shore of the Channel II would thu
= he perfectly possible for her TO aband'
g. all but II defensive campaign, II 81
had not taken Paris or crushed Franc
lie she would then have actually In hai
r what she had AT tho outset hxed h
II mind upon a the maximum OF tcrritori
s, profit for herself. with her wondert
N artillery, her splendid military machlr
IS she could then !ntrench herself fro
IL Rouogne TO the Meuse, via the Aisr
ID and wait until her opponents wore thei
~ ss,~ss 80. w.st sAs ssyr - .hs.- Z
sasa. ~ sAs misst ~ pr.ssts SJssxl