The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-16
By HARDEN.

Rome. Could he speak
Otherwise? He wishes to entertain
his countrymen until good news ar
ives at last from some theatre Of
val. Therefore: feasting in Rome.
war council and Q solemn get together
In Paris.
This gentleman is too wise to be-
lieve that the chatter of sacred unity.
Of the will TO secure community Of
action. could now. in the nineteenth
month Of war. have any effect what
ever. II to-day, a year and a half
after the September pact. the allied
conduct Of war still lacks unity. no
witchcraft Of bombastic words will
c~onjure it upon the seem This the
secon Archon .A%ristides knows.
Does he know. too. that he has sunk
his name and fame In an enterprise
which to all human reckoning can
never bea fruit. even II heavens
favor should smile upon i~t-never:
The most impudent sparrow on Mont
martre credits the Germans with fore.
sight and knows tina, they have for
midabiy fortified every position in
France and Belgium: that they lack
neither men nor guns nor ammuni-
ton; that there is plenty OF every
thing everywhere. That the Ger
mans have leaders equal to their tasks
experience has proved.
Let us consider three theories:
Suppose the improbable should hap
pen the German Ines are penetrated.
all OF them. everywhere. The Allies
then would have a success Of gigantic
proportions to register to their credit.
The peace. however. which NJ. BRAND
! has promised would still lie in the
misty distance. A peace which gives
, tho French .Alsace-I. orraine could be
wrested only from a Germany groan-
ing in the agony OF death. and would
for a Germany returning to life he
! only an armistice. After five or twenty
years war would begin anew.
Does any ,ober minded individual
shove 10 weaken the empire 10 :'ich IN
extent that its soldiers must withdraw
! from all fronts. ~evacuate all conquered
territory and surrender to the enemy's
sword: For eleven months this enemy
has achieved nothing great, nothing
even brilliant: and what he has gained
in material he has lost in confidence
| and strength Of nerves. But ever a
stronger foe could not afford to dream
that one hundred and ten million
humans. confident and erect in rock
like unity OF will. could be dispersed
like a swarm OF mosquitoes.
Second hypothesis; y German drive
pierces the ring ~ stone and the
walls Of men, advances as far az the
Seine. separates the French from the
British, surrounds and disarms in the
centre or on one end ~ the long 'front.'
u whole army.
The loss Of her industrial districts
and Of the flower Of her manhood
France bears with a dignity and a
heroic calmness which finds ever
among the detes,ed hoches legions oi
sincere admirers. But could she stand
still harder plight" Could she holt
out without her fortress m and
without her capital"
Surely the unprecedented mind vii
more readily believe N the possibility
OF an army now in possession Of Noyor
and 81. Quentin aking Paris than IN
the miracle Of our enemies driving ON
warriors. who have proved their worth
a hundred times and who are equipped
with the mos, modern machinery AM
material, from the .Aisnc to the Rhine
True. German victory would have &c
he dearly bought: its i~rreparable COS
would force a merciless throttling Of
our foes.
"Saigner a blanc: no other solution
would. in the face Of the millions %
raves. Ice suffered by our people. II
that case. and then only, they woui,
demand a juicy slice from France
body. and. besides. the dismantlinl
of the eastern st%rongholds and tn,
levy Of tribute guaranteed by German
occupation. The empire of Louis
Eichelieu and %Bonaparte would droI
out of the ranks of the great Powers
Third theory: 4. draw: no clear gu
decision. France regains her de
vastated provinces. without homes o
humus. provinces which the labor o
a. generation is unable to restore. Sh,
Gets no compensation for what she ha
spent for the war, none for the COS
OF providing for cripples. widows an,
orphans.
Her friends and her foes would I'm
pose new ornaments upon her. Moth
erland and colonies would be in IN
throes OF lingering ailment. lingering
unto certain death. because there /
no manhood. no money. no producer
and no workers. The sea of hloo
that separates neighbor from neigh
Dor is fated to separate them TO
cons.
Over mountains Of corpses an
graves of prosperity there will neve
lead a path toward Cancellation.
That path a still he paved TO
day. 1t is not yet too late. Fran nc
has redeemed herself before the worls
No serious minded person will accus
her Tomorrow Of decline or deeen
era"y This war has meant France
pdrification; cruel atonement for
great sin. That Franco can to-da
Tut her people alongside any uthe,
that she can proudly boast under an
u Of the hcroism of her men an
women, this France owes to the no,
} rors n to the miracles Of war.
But what further can this war brin
her? Rest and security. These sh
can gain ut home II the war has taugl
her tn abandon the futile hunt af'e
! that which is forever los, TO her; an
abroad not the piece ~ ri
] will greed ever again demand frol
her.