Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-11-16
a PROSPECT oF PEACE.

fT9Fs from VARIOUS parts q tHS CUM
pass have any information to go upon.
the time is the most propitious one for
peace negotiations which has occurred
since the outbreak Of the war.
Before the battle of the Marine Ger
many would not have considered it,
Immediately after that battle the al
lies terms would have been impossi-
bic of acceptance. Indeed, until last
May the apparent collapse Of Austria
seemed to presage a Teuton eatastro-
phe.
Then came the tremendous Austro-
German offensive which made the peo-
pies Of those countries think that
military victory was about TO crown
their arms, while the allies still had
hopes Of & victory in Gallipoli or on
the western front.
At the present moment matters ap-
pear 10 have reached a deadlock.
The German general STAFF must have
despaired Of taking Calais or Dover,
otherwise 1t would have tried to do SO.
1t also seems to have found II impos
sible or not worth the risk to capture
Petrogrsd or Moscow or even Kiey in
Russia.
1t Is q question whether the Ger
man offensive had not reached its
limits even before troops were with
drawn for the drive into Serbia, says
the Chicago Tribune
The drive In Serbia has been sue
/ cessful TO the extent of opening COM
municatjons with Constantinople and
Of Strengthening the pro-German party
IN Greece and Rumania, at least to the
extent Of keeping those countries
from joining the allies. It has saved
Turkey 1t has not helped Germany.
On the other hand, the allies great
offensive on the western front has
| been developed and has failed
| 1t is as nearly certain as anything
can be in war that the German war
machine ia too we'll organized, too
strong In material, numbers, and
morale to he beaten down at any point
by any armies the allies can bring
/ against them.
| Tt also appears that the German ma
chine can gain ground in any direc-
! tlon it may drive. but not that It can
gain enough ground to bring mill
tary victory.
On the sea the British navy has COM
pleted its supremacy. Not only has It
suppressed most OF the German sub
marine activities. but it has invaded
the Baltic and is wsging successful
submarine warfare In that ocean.
| The pinch Of war is bitterly felt in
every country. France suffers partic-
ulariy from the enemy occupying her
soil In Germany pure wheat bread
has not been tasted for more than a
year, and now meat has been taken
away as regular article OF diet. For
eign trade has collapsed and 1t Is
hard to figure how the German govern
ment can stagger under its war debt.
Indeed. were victory in sight the
need OF an enormous war indemnity
would be Germany's greatest incen-
tive for continuing the war,
Rsusia, which has borne the great
bulk of the war on land and has
fought all the central powers-Ger-
many. Austria and Turkey-has been
blocked from commerce with the world
over her principal highways. the Black
and the Baltic seas Her exports have
dwindled TO the vanishing point, and
the capacity Of her open ports is ex-
hausted importing war materials
alone.
The least suffering Of the contend
ing parties liz England, and England
furthermore, has the tradition of be-
ing the most obstinate Of foemen. Yet
England herself has suffered terribly
and her political organization for con-
tinuing warfare Is not intact. She is
for the first time menaced in her EN-
pire by the opening OF communics-
i. tons between the central empires and
their eastern allies. Bulgaria and Tur-
key In a few months at the most the
Prussian general staff will be prepared
TO strike across the Bosphorus for the
orient, and II the war continues she
Will have 10 do this, as, surrounded
and hlockaded. she cannot afford Il
stand on the defensive. Such move
/. might bring about the collapse Of The
British empire. which England cannot
contemplate without horror
Such move might result I'm militar,
disaster, as such far sent expeditions
have usually done throughout history
or 1t might, by drawing so many mer
far from the fatherland, weaken th'
line Of defense to the breaking point
Either of these contingencies woult
be fatal TO Germany
With the exhaustion on every hand
with the deadlock on existing battle
fields, with the horror Of another win
ter campaign to be faced. and witt
the hitherto undreamed OF possible
ties of an oriental campaign, is it no
possible that the chancellors Of Eur
ope will find some ground upon which
TO make peace?
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UNCLE IKE SOUEALS.