The Washington herald., 1915-11-28

Der OF deputies to ask the King to
call a neutral conference. The dcpu-
ties believe they were approached by
representatives of both Germany and
the allies. According to my inform
ant in London, this is the saWe
scheme that was worked upon the
American, and efforts are being made
to track down the German agents who
presented letters from prominent al
lied statesmen. The letters were all
forged.
G. B. Shaw's Assertion.
George Bernard Shaw, the brilliant
dranIatist, called pro-German because
he is foe OF hypocrisy regardless
Of its nationality, delivered a lecture
in London on October 20, during
which he astounded his auditors by
saying: 81 know, you may take it
from me, that Great Britain is at
present trying to get some neutral
nation, preferably America, to stop
the war by mediation"
That statement has never been pub
lishcd. The ccnsors were not caught
asleep. And Mr.. Shaw made it be-
cause he had received the informa-
ton from sure source" through
an Intermediary who was not what
he pretended to be.
These three illustrations will show
how Germany is settling to work. IL
is absolutely necessary for the sue
cess Of her scheme that an impression
be created among ncutrals that the
allies, as we'll as herself, are exhaust
ed and ready for peace. Such an i'm
preston, If the allies are not very
wide awake, can be created despite
dcnials transmitted from London TO
Paris. "Of course" the German
agents will whisper, they have to say
these things to keep up the morale
OF their people. But this is the inside
situation. Sir Edward Grey author
lied me to tell you
Why Is Berlin Talking Peaee1
But, it will be asked. why is Ger
manv disseminating peace rumors,
and why have entente statesmen so
hardened their hearts against them,
with the military situation what it is
The Kaiser's armies stand stcadfaSt
on the enemies territory east and
west. while south the great campaign
to link the central empires with
1000. 900 fresh fighting men and in
calculable resources is progressing
with apparent rcsistlcss power. With
in six weeks. France, Britain and
Italy have thrown away quarter OF
a million men in fruitless attempts TO
break the Tcutonic lines; since Bull
garia attacked Serbia and Greece
abandoned her hard-pressed ally, the
people of England and France for the
first time have come TO doubt whether
victory is possible.
There is at anv given moment a
wide divergence between the state OF
mind OF the men in the London or
Paris street and the statesman or staff
officer working behind guarded por-
tails At various times during this war,
optimism has reigned outside while
inside there was gloom. For instance,
those who knew in London were de-
spondent in March at the failure OF
Neuve Chapclle and in September at
the hzzle OF Loos, while the public
was celebrating victory; and in Ber-
lin crowds paraded the streets and
church bells rang and flags waved
while the Kaiser and his advisers
were biting their lips over the de-
feats at the Marine, before Ypres, and
before Warsaw.
Days of Terrible Anxiety.
Checrcd by rumors of the coming
great western offensive, the allied
public was fairly optimistic late in
August and carly in September, when
the tension in cabinets and staff coun-
Il ~-l@,, a-I par,e
terrible; there were some weeks when
it was touch and go whether the Rus
sian armies would be smashed or
revolution in Russia would
not force peace If the Germans did
not win a decision IL the field. Either
OF those contingencies. in all prob
ability, would have meant German vic
tory over France as we'll as Russia,
and the isolation OF Britain.
Now it is the other way around.
For when the German invasion of
Russia came to a standstill, and 1t
became evident that more guns and
munitions for the Slavs had produced
A state of balance in the east, when
in consequence of this the internal
situation in the Cars empire chang
ed for the better, the German chance
OF ultimate victory, in the view of in
formed London and Paris, went
But all this made little
on the public, because the
public never having appreciated the
danger, was unable to realize what
had been escaped.
An Admission of Defeat.
Germany turned to the Balkans; an
admission Of defeat, to the diplomatiSt
and strategist, public avowal that a |
decision on the east or west front |
could no longer be hoped. But the
effect on the allied public was the |
opposite. More gloom envelops Lon
don and Paris than since the dark |
lays of August, 1914, because the de-
lection of Bulgaria and Greece, no
surprise to the well-informcd, as
founded the man who depends for his |
on what the censors dole |
put to him, because the threats of an
advance from Turkey on Egypt and |
India are taken seriously, and above
all, because the superb effrontery of
Germany in turning from her great
east and west to carclessly |
start another in the south seems to |
show that she is indeed unconquer-
able.