The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1914-09-18
IS THE END NEAR?

10 AaE END NEAR!
N predicting the issue of any great
undertaking it is always wise
to give due credit to the. desire
winch Is father to the thought"
The patriotism and preference of in
'dlvlduals color their opinions as to
Which side will emerge victorious
from the European conflict. And
predictions as to the when the war will
end, which is the one concern of all
who view the strife without prefer
ence or prejudice, may easily be in
t1uenced by the desire that chaos
quickly resolve itself into order. How
ever, it does seem that the application
OF the law of cause and effect to the
present situation makes early peace
certain. Developments are coming
thick and fast these days. Nothing is
more certain at this stage than that
the strategy of the German-Austrian
war college has failed to work out as
anticipated. Even the most ardent
partisan of the German cause will find
it difficult to view the situation with
confidence. The German army did not
retreat from the territory occupied at
such fearful cost until it had been out
Unanswered and badly defeated. The
allied armies were to have been de-
stroyed and Paris reduced to a state
of seige by this time, according to the
German plan and expectations. In
stead of realizing these hopes, the
eyes of the Kaiser, and his armies
have been turned from Paris toward
Berlin within the past week and the
Russian advance is as real a menace
to Berlin at this time as was the
mighty German advance to Paris a
short time ago. It is almost incon-
ceivable that the Austrian forces can
again be modified into an aggressive
army. Rather it would appear that
the Austrian army can only escape
utter humiliation by surrender, and
this surrender has already involved
nearly a half million men. With the
Austrian army practically destroyed
with it's government torn by internal
dissension, and with its territory men,
aced by the aggressive armies of the
hostile Balkan States, the position of
Austria is anything but what it was
expected to be at the beginning of the
great conflict. This means that Ger
many must accomplish the Herculean
task Of reducing the allies to impo-
tency and repel the Titan hosts of the
Car at the same time. Germany
must either accomplish the obviously
impossible, therefore, or be caught in
the wise and destroyed. The only
alternative to this is peace. 1t is not
a question of valor. It is no longer a
matter of military efficiency. Man
for man the soldiers engaged in the
present war are equal in valor and in
efficiency. But in the vital matter of
numbers, the odds are overwhelm-
ingly in favor of the allies, just as
they were in favor of Grant in the
civil war. The armies of Lee were
not out-fought by Grant, but there
came the time when it was no longer
possible to replace the dead Confeder'
ates, while the soldiers of the North
were "thick as autumnal leaves.
Hence the Confederacy was unable to
overcome the superior numbers hurl-
ed against them by the North. The
situation in Europe is practically par
allel. The German army has been
recruited to its maximum. The re-
sources of the allies are still in re-
serve.
When war was declared it appeared
to the impartial observer that Ger
MANY and Austria must win over
whelming victories, early and con-
stantly, in order to issue VIGOROUSLY
from the campaign. This was the
ambition, and the certainty, of the
German military party at the outset
The detection of Italy, the failure OF
the Austrians to withstand the Rus.
sian advance, the wholly unexpected
energy displayed by the troops Of the
Car, together with the change in the
policy of the allies from defense tc
aggression, all combine to make the
German position desperate in the ex-
IRENE.
It is not surprising, therefore, that
the diplomats of the world are dis
cussing the probabilities of the end
of the war and agreeing that early
peace is possibility. Since the "pos-
sibilities" of the diplomat are gener-
ally the probabilities" of plain ex-
nression. we may reasonably expect