Evening star., 1916-11-01
SAYS E|ND0F WAR !
IS'IUP TO.|GE:R|!MANX' ||!
British Officer Asserts It M
Depends on How Much ,
Enemy Can Stand. !.
TWO YEARS, THINK SOME.

t"V b6Hul01 lbltNN SOW6
Cerrespondenes Of the Associated Press.
LONDON, October 17.-''You win have
to ask Germany"
This was the answer OF distinguish.
ed English ofacer recently back from
the front when the familiar query was
put to him: when will the war end?"
I'VE know what we can give them"
he continued, ''but we do not know a.
yet Just how much they are prepared
to stand, or are willing to stand In
the meantime we will increase the pres-
sure more and more until tho break
comes"
With the turning OF the tide on the
western battlefelds there was natural-
ly a disposition here to feel that hos
tilities soon would be over. The ON
these views, however. and are con-
stantly cautionfng the people at home
against the idea that the issue will be
settled within the next few months
From conS ersations with scores OF ofn-
GERS familiar with the situation at the
front it can be stated that they DO
not expect the war to end at the earli-
est before & next autumn. ihr tne.e tMa ,rare are
years Of lighting before the allied ma
tions.
Must Be Fight to Finish. +,
1--WE have got a long way to CO.. said
Gen. Sir william Robertson. Kitche-
ner's successor. a few days ago. And
we must be ready to go all the way,
he added. Fight to a finish Is tho or
der. There must be no slaekening or
On the contrary, there must be q great:
tightening up
No good soldier will make a definite
prediction as to the end OF the S war; ~
period Of time which it is impossible to
estimate" said Sir William. And that
expresses the opinion OF the army.
There may be various innuences AZ
there is the constant talk heard here OF
internal troubles in Germany. but the
army officer only looks at the map ,
He still sees long road ahead before
the victory he has in mind can become
a reality. The military defeat OF Ger
many, and that is the only defeat the
army looks forward to. means an IN
yasion Of the German empire; Gen: ,.SHs sis
Irish ''V. c." has said:
THE Indian Lancers may never ride
through the Brandenburg gates, but
the end of the war will not come until
Things are going SO well at the west
ern front that it is difficult even for
any words of warning to dull the spirit
of elation in London. With Germany on
enemy is no longer fighting to retain
all he seized in the first great on
slaught Of the war. but Is rather strug.
Cling to hold as much as possible until
dicted "shortening of the western line:
which Londoners confidently look Tor
from day to day. %
"Cannot Throw Us or" =
On the other hand is the statement Of
Gen. Foch, the French commander, who
declares the Germans are so tightly
held in the west it is impossible for.
them either to advance or to retreat
in any great number. '-
I'VE are on Them" he said, like a
corrosive acid. I'VE have eaten into
their tanks and they can't throw us on.
You cannot always see acid at work.
but the disintegrating process is going
or all the time"
The artillery Of the allies on the
Somme. where the great armies OF the
belligerents are massed, commands
such an overwhelming influence as to
prevent a retreat. 1t is said. The she'll;
ing behind the German lines Is just as
intense as 1t is in front. The expen-
diture of English and French shells has
frankly amazed the Germans. the mill
tary critics here all agree. and the ar
tillery activity has brought about .
distinct new phase In the fighting. It
has driven the once closely locked
trenches further and further apart. Y
has solved the problem of dealing with
"dug-in' enemy. 1t has been dis
covered that the way to successfully
take trench Is to obiiterate II, to
fiatten it out with shell-fire. Recent al
hnr sohf rrrtf
ammunition rather than with blood
This has led Georg Queri. the German
critic. to write in the Berliner Tage-,
blatt:
Every German killed costs a fortune
to the French. The enemy Is devoting
all of his attention to artillery. The
whole concentrated experience of two
years finds expression in shells and
to test the bridge made by shells to
the German trenches. Infantry tight
ing is no longer man against man. The
trench is only rushed by infantry when
1t has been blown to dust. It is q con-
is of poor quality" E @-i
Merely Conceals Tribute. ..
This fling at the infantry. according to
British officers. is merely put In to
cover up the real tribute to the artil-'
tiles here have been somewhat sur
prised at the deep Impression the ar
tillery has made in Germany. They
were quite delighted with report by
a German military expert quoted as
having said:
British infantry never had any
value. The French infantry now Is
only a miserable shadow of what It was
two years ago. The French infantry
nowadays attacks only when the artil-
lery has done its work SO perfectly
that they have only to occupy the shat
tered trenches"
Those officers who believe the war
will go on for two years longer say Il
has taken two years to put Germany
really on the defensive, and they an
ticipate it will take two more years to-
make her acknowledge the defeat
which the allies believe is inevitable.
AS to internal conditions. the army
man takes it into consideration only AZ
to its effect upon the morale Of the
fighting men. 1t is undeniable that
great sacrifices are being demanded OF
the civilian population in Germany,
and 1T Is contended no army long re-
mains wholly superior to homo In
duences.
Those who believe in an earlier end.
ing of the war base their belief-or
perhaps their hope-upon the. military
assumption that an army cannot offer
the same resistance in third Or fourth
or fifth line trenches that II did In the
first line. They declare that when the
French and English were retreating at
the beginning of the war it was q re-
treaf of unnrenarednesa The GApyrAn