Grand Forks daily herald., 1915-06-30
GERMANS Think
FRENCH RESTLESS
Had Hoped to Have Enemy
Out of France by July
Deny Teuton Charge.
(By George Dufresne.)


Paris, June 3O.-German agents
abroad are. busy telling the people of
the few remaining neutral countries
that the people of France are begin
ming to show considerable impatience
because the results of the French Of
fensive Of which so much had been
expected do not come up to the gen.
eral expectation that by July the Ger
mans would have been driven out Of
France and Belgium and that the war
from now on would be conducted en-
tirely on German soil as far as her
western front is concerned.
Nothing could be less in accordance
with truth. Every intelligent French
man feels that had Gen. Joffre wanted
to make the sacrifice of tens of thou
sands Of French lives all along the
lines the Germans might now be on
the defensive on the other side Of the
Rhine, but France would have been
weakened by the loss Of blood for
years to come. There is no necessity of
this. >.
It has repeatedly been emphasized
that the French military system,' un-
like the German. does not depend on
sensational rapid successes to make
final victory certain. This was evident
even before the entry Of Italy into the
war and 1t is more than ever evident
now. so evident in fact, that the few
pessimists that existed in France have
now grown less in number, while the
number of German pessimists is rap
idly increasing.
The German military leaders know
at the present moment that the time
is past when they win nave surplus
of frro tn -
the Russian front and vice versa.
Germany Short OF Ammunition.
A few weeks ago a dying German
ofncer. who was being treated in a
French hospital and whose wife had
been prevented by the German mill
tary authorities from coming to his
bedside before he died, told his nurses
that all France had to do was to hold
on for three months longer, when
Germany would have to sue for peace
milton.
Nobody here has been inclined to
attach too much importance to this
testimony Of a dying man embittered
against the German military authori-
ties because they refused his last wish.
but there are other symptoms indicat-
ing that Germany is approaching the
beginning OF the end.
For some time the German govern
ment has ceased publishing its Official
casualty lists. undoubtedly because
the losses in Poland and Galicia have
been SO enormous that the publication
of them might create dissatisfaction
even in a country as we'll disciplined
as Germany.
What the German losses in the last
few months have been we are unable
to say, but even here on our front
where no real big battles have been
founght they have been appalling and
1t has been necessary for Germany to
I'LL up the gaps in her ranks with men
who have had practically no military
training.
This is more than mere guesswork.
A certain German company opposed
to the French in Flanders in less than
a week lost 1856 of Its ITO men and
to take the places of the dead and
wounded Is men were hurriedly sent
from the reserve depots in Belgium.
Unframed Men in Ranks.
In subsequent fight the French
particular company. Ten Of these be-
longed to the recently arrived re-en-
forcements and all Of these were of
the unframed Landstrum. One Of them
was only 90 years Of age. The rest
were between 26 and 50, but they had
all previously been found UNIT for
military service because Of various
weaknesses.
Called to the colors in March they
had arrived at Client in the early part
of May and had had very little mill
tary training. and this by ofiicers who
had no experience in war Only two Of
them had ever dug trenches and the
remainder had simply been put
through the manual Of arms, ana
while they had little target practice
they knew nothing about the use of
the bayonet.
Only one of them was worthy of be-
Ing called soldier. He was a "Gefreit-
er," who had been In Belgium since
November last.
Having reached the firing lines these
men Immediately came under French
artillery fire and were completely de-
moralized.
Among all the prisoners taken by
France during the present month not
q single private has known ANYTHING
about Italy's joining the allies. except
those who had been told so by the
French In the trenches opposite their
own. These had been informed bv
their officers that the news was false
ana invented by the French mereIv
to discourage them.
The United States can sell a,, that
It can produce. The foreign demand
Tor the most OF things 10 increaainT.
surely theFe shculd be abundant en-