Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-08-07
WHY KAISER FEELS
CERTAIN OF VICTORY
Prof. Usher Explains Why
Germans Believe They Hold
Key to Strategy.

The confidence of Germany that its
territory Is invulnerable, that it holds
the strategic keys which will enable
1t to conquer France and. Russia, that
its position makes 1t immune from at
tack by Great Britain, that it is vastly
superior to its enemies in military
strength and preparedness, that it is
economically self-supporting and in
dependent and that both the govern
ment and the population are better
prepared financially for a costly war
than the other nations of Europe-all
the reasons that made Germany enter
the war with strong faith that it
would be successful in the end are set
forth by Professor Roland G. Usher,
professor of history in Washington
University, st. Louis, in his volume,
entitled Pan-Germanism," published
by Houghton- Mifflin Company, Bos-
ton.
Germanys central position, he be-
lieves, would be weak for a nation
compelled to defend itself, but pos
sesses enormous advantages for a
power which purposes to take the
aggressive. He says:
She can attack either France or
Russia with equal ease. Her army Is
equally ready to defend her against
both at the same time, thus affording
her the maximum opportunity for
utilizing her men to advantage.
She holds the great strategic points
of Northern Europe-Alsace-L Lorraine,
the door to France; the Kiel canal,
giving her access to the Baltic with
out exposing herself to the necessity
OF utilizing the Sund. Her allies hold
the Swiss passes and the vital points
a1ording passage into Russia and the
Balkans.
Everything vital to Germany-in-
deed, everything she owns-forms a
compact territorial unit, which can
be defended with the minimum force
and the maximum ease She has no
long chain of forts or islands to
guard, no great stretches of land in
Africa or Asia to protect, no subject
races to pacify like the Hindus or
Moroccans."
Prof. Usher says that Britain's fleet
could not attack Germany, and that,
while 1t could stop German shipping,
1t could not thus cripple the nation.
Germany" he said, looks with
greatest pride on her economic
strength She feels that she occupies
IN the economic world a truly ex-
traordinary position, as one of the
few nations who are still literally
sef-sufficient, who can still feed and
clothe themselves.
Agriculture has reached a state of
high perfection in Germany; manu-
features have undoubtedly made great
progress Indeed, her great economic
efficiency is clear from her success in
competition with other nations in
every field of industry; she has
beaten them in their own markets.
tf(.nrfY1 .
on its possession within its own bor-
ders of q fairly adequate supply of
most raw materials and especially
most of those materials most neces-
sary for an army and fleet, not ex-
cepttng the most essential of all
food and IRON
According to Prof. Usher, the Ger
man people bear the cost of arma-
ment much more easily than do the
French and British. The German
revenue per capita, he says, is $40.
while England's is SIS and Frances
$40, proving that the Germans nave
borne with ease the cost of unparal-
leled naval and military expansion.
ut is, however, when Germany
looks at her public debt" he cont1n-
ues, land compares it with that of
her rivals, that she feels most con-
public debt per capita is something
over $15, while England owes $50 per
individual and France carries the
enormous burden of $3.50 per person.
Germany, therefore, not only mas
more people and more acres, but has
been able to accomplish vastly more
with the imposition of much smaller
burdens upon her population" After
a comparison of the standing army of
Germany with those of France and
England in forecast of war, in
which Prof. Usher has not included
Russia as an enemy of Germany. he
says:
when Germany adds her reserve
army, nearly equal in size and eff
cheney to her standing army, she
wonders how England and France
can seriously consider opposing her
wishes, and looks upon the outcome
of any possible conflict with suprem-
est confidence"