Grand Forks daily herald and the evening times., 1914-08-01

to the purpose Of the movement OF
Russian TROOPS, Germany has set her
own military forces in motion, and SC
thoroughly are her forces organized
that If a declaration of war comes
from her 1t will undoubtedly be fol
lowed within q few hours by the
striking of a tremendous and telling
blow. That the present situation goes
far beyond anything that has hap
pened since Germany's war with
France Is indicated by the fact that
sailings Of all the great German lin
ers have beer cancelled, regardless OF
the passenger list, and some of the
big ships have been requisitioned by
the government. Among these are
the new Imperator and vaterland, the
latter the largest ship afloat.
The French are preparing for trou-
BILE, and some Of their liners have al
so been taken over by the govern
ment for military purposes.
Britain takes a gloomy view of the
situation. Her North Sea navy has
put to sea under sealed orders; she
has abandoned the Chinese port OF
Wei Hal Wei, preferring to do this
rather than waste her strength in try
ing to defend it. Germany has pro-
hibited the expectation Of foods of any
kind, and of machinery and supplies
which could be Of use in time of war.
The developments of an hour may
set in motion for actual combat
armies which number millions of men,
because in such a case he strikes
twice who strikes first. Premier AS
auith, Of Great Britain, is reported
to have said that he saw nc hope OF
preventing a general war. and that he
expected that the war on which Eu-
rope was seemingly about to embark
might last for twenty years. We
question the accuracy of the report
Mr.. Asquith is most earnestly desir-
GUS of peace, and he is not likely tc
make loose predictions at this mo.
ment. We believe a twenty years
war to be impossible at this stage OF
the worlds progress. theoretically
such a thing might be possible II the
sides were SO evenly matched that
neither could gain a substantial ad-
vantage. In that case the contest
would come to be one Of endurance
and the operations of war would tend
to destroy the agencies through
which it might otherwise be speedily
ended. Our machinery and our
means Of transportation are SO well
developed that while they exist nc
War can continue for very long. But,
If We could imagine a condition in
which neither side could gain a mate
rial advantage for a considerable
time, we need only imagine a little
further to see most of the material
evidence of civilization destroyed, and
man reduced to his primitive condi-
ton. Fields would lie idle and fac
tories remain closed because of the
withdrawal of the last possible mar
to aid In the fighting. Railroads
would be torn up and because of the
lack Of me and material they could
not be restored. The elaborate en-
gines OF war would be worn out and
destroyed, and they could not be re-
placed. Man would gradually descend
to the state Of savagery to which wal
properly belongs.
The present outbreak is SO far from
what has been believed possible that
1t would be rash to make further pre-
dictions. But at any rate, 1t is i'm
possible to imagine the legitimate &C
t~tvtties OF the human race suspended
for a period Of years. while men flew
at each others threats like dogs. San
ity would surely come before many
months had passed.