The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-10-07
WAR ECHOES

Washington Post: Various manufactu- 1 rers of the United States, responding to the wholesale demand for auto trucks, l powder supplies, and all sorts of war materials, probably realize better even 1 than the government itself, that the | European war is the most colossal con- I flict since the world began. These pri- vate manufacturers, witnessing the size of the orders from Europe, know what it means to fight modern war. But does Congress know?
 There is reason to fear that the great lesson of the present war may be lost entirely so far as Congress is concerned. All that is necessary is to read the daily cable reports from the warning countries to realize the preparations that were made by the embattled nations.
 Is there any field in which the United States approaches the nations at war so far as modern equipment and prepared ness is concerned? Are the forts and guns of this country equal to the forts and guns which are in the limelight in Europe? Is the United States versed in the art of mine laying, and are the sub-
  enough for purposes of defense?
 Word of new kinds of guns and shells is received from the European war field every day. New records have been es- tablished for long range firing. The work of the aerial scouts has been one of the most prominent features of the struggle.
 Entirely new conditions, new weapons, new methods, and new requirements are revealed as essentials of modern warfare The officers and boards of the United States army and navy have been at work, but their past warnings and pleas have fallen upon deaf ears.
 It Is time for this country to awaken. It is to be hoped that pereptual peace may follow the European war, but until such peace is guaranteed, the only safety for the United States is to put itself in such shape that it could fight a modern war, if such a course became necessary.
 When the legislative programme is marked out for the session beginning in December, military defenses should head the list
 New York Herald: Perhaps the most striking because to the lay mind least expected feature of the fighting in France has been the success achieved by the French and English with the bayonet. Its use has had small place in the curriculum prescribed by Germany military strategists. And as the Kaiser War machine has been generally re- garded as the most nearly perfect thing of it's kind in the world, nonmiitary men at least have been disposed to ac- eept the German dictum that as an in- strument of modern warfare the bayonet was out of date.
 Every war teaches its own lessons. If "cold steel' had been removed from it's old place in military science it will now be restored. Concede to all the other yet in the hand-to-hand fighting that must mark the supreme crisis the bayo- net cannot be dispensed with
 As the submarine has proven its worth at sea- so have aircraft and motor vehi- cles on land. Air scouting has almost if not entirely eliminated that heretofore most valuable asset of strategy, surprise. As fighting machine neither the aero- plane nor the dirigble has as yet proved itself, but as eyes for the armies all types of aircraft have been shown to be in- dispensable
 Cleveland Plain Dealer: From August. 1862, to June, 1s64 the Alabama, flying the flag of the Southern Confederacy. de- stroyed 6S American vessels. Her depre- dations terrorized the merchantmen of the north, and no less than 34s American ships changed to foreign registry. The Alabama's record of destruction made her famous in American history
 The achievements of the German cruiser Emden in the present war bear a certain similarity to the story of the Alabama. Germany's navy on the seven seas is, at present, about as inefficient as was the navy of the confederacy in 1882 It is Il practically non-existent. The damage which has been done by a few scatter ing cruisers amounts merely to individ- ual exploits.
 Of all tho German cruisers and "com- merce destroyers," the Emden has accom- plished the most. In the Bay of Bengal, which may almost be considered as be- iohSlnS tO crItdt DfiidlIl, lHlS one cruiser has destroyed score of British ves- sels Her ability to elude pursuit is all most uncanny. She strikes, and forth with disappears. From time to time the British admiralty publishes list of her victims.
 The Emden seems to have done her work as humanely as possible. BeforeI sendin ga merchantmen to the bottom. | she takes off the crew, and when she has enough of these civilian prisoners she sends them ashore in captured boat. | This phase of war is not against persons, but wholly against property. The hero- ism is in the risk that must constantly bo run of falling afoul of a vengeful fleet.
 THE LAWS DELAY From the Chicago Tribune.