New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-01-21
Montenegro and the War.

Of great war. Again and again the
mind Is distracted from the actual value
of the event by some spectacular appeal
that it has or by some imaginary value
attached to it by the nation which hopes
thereby TO impress its enemies and the
reutrals.
To take the case of Montenegro: If you
say that nation with an area about equal
10 that Of Connecticut and Rhode Island
and population of half million has
been conquered and probably eliminated
from the war, it is plain that you are
saving that nothing of real Importance
has happened. Montenegro never pos
sessed an army of the strength of reg
ular corps; it began the war with only
weak division, and its resources in men
are exhausted.
On the other hand, If you say that Ger
many and her allies have conquered an
other nation. and that now not less than
three countries have been swept by the
victorious armies Of the two kaisers; II
YOU dwell upon the extent Of this victory
as witnessed by the submission Of nations,
YOU can easily become the victim Of your
own words and perceive triumph which
does not exist and has never existed.
The real issue Of the war has depended
for many months, actually from the start,
On the outcome of the duel between Ger
many on the one hand and France and
Great Britain on the other. Austria's
mission has been to deal with Russia and
the Balkans. and Austria has never been
able 20 perform its mission alone, thus
weakening Germany's position IN the face
of her true foes. Now, in this war be-
tween Germany and her Western foes the
campaigns have proceeded about as one
might expect, when regard is had for the
superior preparation Of Germany and the
long time in which Germany had been
maturing her plans.
After eighteen months 6S000,OO0 Ger
mans have been able TO take from an
Anglo-French alliance a little more than
1000 square miles of French territory
p twenty-ffth of France. When this con-
Quest was made France had little more
than a million troops in the field and Great
Britain rather less than 100000. Ger
many had for use against France and
Great Britain a little less than million
and half. To-day Great Britain has a
million troops In France and France has
On the first line something over million
and half On the same front Germany
N has between 100000 and 1,75O00O.
" To-day French and British reserves ex-
coed all remaining German reserves, and
thus insure to France and Great Britain
permanent superiority in numbers on
the Western front With the help of the
munitions plants of the United States,
France and Great Britain have overtaken
ard passed Germany both IN the manu-
facture Of munitions and of artillery. In
ran-power and eun-powcr Germany Is
now and will remain for the period Of
the war at disadvantage.
Taking now the case Of money; Before
the war the combined wealth of France
end Great Britain was not less than twice
that Of Germany, and the reserves Of capt.
tai were even greater. Germany was IN the
nocess of extending and developing her
plant and was putting her earnings back
into her plant. France and Great Britain
had great investments all over the world,
from which they drew and continue TO
draw revenue. They are now from time
70 time disposing of them to get new sup
Plies to run the war.
Against the 8,40O square miles of France
that Germany has acquired she must set
the complete loss Of the use of the sea
and the loss Of the whole colonial empire
that she has built up in the last genera
tior. The latter is a consideration for the
future, but the loss of the use of the sea
amounts to n complete paralysis of her
industry. so far as the outside world Is
concerned.
The population Of the portion Of France
occupied by Germany did not exceed
100000 before the war. German losses
as tabulated by German official reports
show greater casualty total than this.
The population Of France and Great Brit
ain before the war was S5,000,000 in
Europe. plus not far from 100000
whites in their colonies. and their COM
bined casualties DO not exceed the German.
What we have is the plain fact that
before the war the resources Of France
and Great Britain i'm men, in money and
in all save preparation were lncomparaoly
greater than those Of Germany. Thanks
to superior preparation, Germany was
able to strike first and TO take small
portion Of French territory. But sixteen
months ago her progress in the West was
brought to a halt and she has never been
able to move forward again. Since then the
latent resources Of Great Britain and
France have permitted them to overtake
and pass Germany. and British sea power