The Washington herald., 1915-02-04
A Matter Of Figures.


moved swiftly to the Belgian frontier and began
to pound its way Parisward by the shortest avail
able route Six months since Teutonic kultur
struck sudden and mighty blow against its foes
and was halted and even thrown back by the
force of the impact Six months of carnage,
blusted, and bafied design. There is no record
of another half year so wantonly misspent Blood
treasure and all the offensive and defensive re-
sources of continent have been lavished reck-
lessly. The destructive process has been carried
to the point of scientific exhaustiveness. No
horror known to modern ingenuity has been left
untried.
What has been accomplished? The correct
and only rational answer to this question can be
nothing less than the most pitiful confession of
human failure ever made. 1t has been affirmed
by certain leading American newspapers that
have found it difficult to observe the strict neu-
tralty enjoined by the present administration that
the victory is already won, but it is opinion
altogether too speculative to carry conviction. 1t
is not possible even to know where the advantage
lies. Furthermore, there is not in this country
military expert endowed with prescience
which would enable him to speak authoritatively
of the outcome. At the present moment, no mans
opinion is conclusive. There is no more reason
to doubt the honesty of the Kaisers profession of
belief in the final triumph of his movement than
there is to question the Cars sincerity when he
predicts certain victory for the allies.
For us, with the safety of the between us
and the warning legions, it has been half year
of enlightenment. Some of theories regard
ing European political conditions have been shat
tered, others have been confirmed. The Teutonic
allies have not proved to be such invncible tight
ers as we expected them to be. The French, on
the contrary, have made it plain that they have
regained their oldtime prestige in the field. The
Russians have dissipated the belief that Germany
could not be invaded. By her unpreparedness
and her slowness in getting into the thick of the
trouble, Great Britain seems to have made good
her insistence that she was not the prime mover
in the degrading business.
Time, also, has shown that the dramatic
compact made by the allies against German mill
tarism has availed little. There is nothing to in
dicate that the disntegraton of the German en-
pire is at hand or even that the house of Hohen-
zollern is in immediate danger of extinction. The
opinion that the war has been fought to stand
STILL with decisive advantage for either side, is
gaining ground in this country. 1t is improbable
that submarine and aerial activity will bring hos
tties to a spectacular finish. Long before these
most recent additions to warfare could enforce
settlement of the quarrel, another and far more
potent peacemaker will have come into the game.
1t is not the drain upon the life blood OF the
warning nations that will bring peace. Warfare
in the trenches might continue until generations
to come had developed the burrowing habit. 1t
is another kind Of drain that is going to do the
business 1t is the sort of drain that cannot be
borne indefinitely by any nation under the
When the national purse becomes lean and the
national credit becomes a thing of reproach the
luxury of war must be forsworn How long the
ha11 Of EurOOe will tO
maintain their present attitude is a question
which may be answered by any who will take
paper and pencil and figure it out. First, how
ever, he will have to master the European fnan-
cial situation. Thus far no one has qualified for
the lob