New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-04-02

Is the best ueleICc' ~"
poleium for a fortnight; the DAMAGE
ReI9ian roads have been broughI "
their final ruin by heavy transports %
row Guns and ammunition. ANY day, ~
foct Germany may anticipate tHe
stratocists of the Allies by an atIacA
des;oned not so much to break through
% 70 convince the Allies that 1urlher
advance is hopeless. .o,, - bo
This month of March, 1914, may DE
our last breathing space untH autumn
nuriny the rest of this spring ana sum
NOR event will be following on event,
holocaust on holocaust. so fast tha'
We shall all be too mad TOR conseeu-
tive thought. And. after ali' Lohaoll
10 NOT had place from which to view
tbo course of events in Europe. III
Coo. only the Vatican, which Is IN THIS
,,ar hut not of it. is the place IN EUROPE,
Witch gives n better vantage GROUND
for general view. London is sun
Tho focus of the worlds travel. Neu'
trals and especially Americans, are
continually passing in and out, 10 anu
from the allied countries ana the
enemy countries. From them one gets
the facts and gossip which correct he
carefully censored and often menda-
c;ons "news" given out by official bu'
roous And here is what your CORE
spondent considers far statement ol
nresent conditions and future pros
Tho Germans, in all human prob
| abilitv cannot break the allied line
on Inc west. The fortunes OF the BTU
| ish army between October 10 and NO
yomber Is seem to show that. In the
beicbt Of the assault at Ypres 6OO,OOu
Germans failed to break 10000 BRIT
isb. lust arrived, imperfectly IN
| trenched and without reserves. NO"
| tbe british are reinforced TO many
limos their old strength, perfectly IN
tronched and possessed of enormous
reserves. The French, OF course, nave
not Increased their numbers ike the
/ British. But they have dug IN very
thoroughly, they will have the beneh'
If British reserves at critical points
and thev have crystallized into mag
nificent fighting force.
French Army Called Best.
A cool, impartial English officer, who
| is in a position to know, said recently;
"The German army was the best IN
the beginning; now it is the French
/ 1t is the best army the world ever
saw. Our fellows are splendid ma
/ terial but you can't get in one winter
| the knowledge of war and the team
work which the French possess"
The French army on the eastern wing
of the line again and again duplicated
| last autumn the feat of the British
army at Mons; they held with inferior
numbers against terrible attacks. Bet
ter organized than they were, better
intrencned, still possessed of enormous
reserves, they offer little hope to 6
massed German assault. The Belgians
with their reserves and territorials
held by the enemy, cannot, of course
increase their numbers. Nevertheless
Belgium has a greatly improved army
Their fault in the early fighting was
lack of technique, especially among the
officers. "Otficiers de salon." a French
colonel called them during the Ysei
fight. The technicians of the French
and British armies have been educat-
ing them all this winter. Unit fol
unit, they are twice as good as when
they fought at Liege and Antwerp.
1t seems most unlikely, therefore
that the Germans cal .ver break this
western line, especially in the direction
of Calais.
On the other hand the chance of the
western Allies does not seem a great
deal better The Germans have been
doing their own digging in, and doing
it with their own scientific thorough
ness. From scattered accounts i,
would seem that Belgium is now all one
huge field of intrenchnents. You neal
Of whole townships of interlockine
trenches, of whole fields Of land mines
- ba al oh Ar
are forests of barbed wire entangle-
ments. No informed person expects, OF
course. that Germany is to be driven
out of Belgium and Northern France by
direct frontal attack all along the line
There is not enough ammunition in the
world 70 supply such an assault fol
three days. Somewhere between the
Nosges and the sea the Allies will try
10 drive wedges, threatening the Ger
man communications and rendering
long sections Of their positions unten-
able.
Germans Cannot Break Line.
To summarize for the western front:
! The Germans. in all human probability
cannot break the allied line; the Allies
may possibly break the German line.
There comes, then, the situation or
the eastern front. Through the be-
wilderment OF strange, unpronounceablC
Russian names, through the uncertainty
about Russian equipment, stands out
one fact: so far, invaders though they
be, the Germans have not pulled /,
off" in Russia Their military sue.
cesses hive so far been half successes
The Germans have been compared &c
Dr-ke's feet. the Russians to the
Spanish kings ieet. in the old Armad,
affair. The more mobile German, with
his preparedness, his system OF stra