Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-06-05
GERMANY PLANNING
To LOAD STAGGERING
INDEMNITY UPON j. s.
War Talk of America Is All
Bluff, SneerS Captured PruS-
sian Officer, Discussing En-
trance Into War
EY WILLIAM PHILIP sn1ars.

WITH THE BRITISH ARMIES
IN THE FIELD. June i.-The war will
he over and a staggering indemnity
saddled on the United states before she
knows she is iu-sCcording to the Prus-
san attitude OF today
The prisoners mold this view. For in
stance. a typically arrogant Prussian
uffiCer jeeTed at me contemporary to-
cay as he stood inside a barbed-wired
compound. fresh from a battlefield
where the Canadians had mauIed his
division into scraps
Before America awakes. we will
rave starved England France and
Italy into submission. and have made
peace with Russia. leaving you alone
jr5 the field" ne said.
To my enumeration o. the evidences
% Americas immediate participation
S;.Ch as destrOyers sent to the subma-
zine zone. 4 division of troops soon
30 be At the front. and hundreds of
thousands OF others being recruited and
trained--he replied TO each. laconically
Bluff"
When mentioned biz financial sd-
auces TO tile allies. he responded
Loans are profitable When l spoke
~ a huge air fleet building-"the war
viii be finished before it arrives"
Cocktails constructing a vast fleet of
tcOd carriers-''YOu1I be paying an in
deulnity before the ships are finished"
TOO LATE NOW"
No the Prussian concluded. Its too
late. YOU can; harm US much now
The plain truth is that Germany IS
prepared TO fight telling defensive war
udefinitely-prOvided she is able to keep
her hungry population in line The
~
agree TO this. basing their hopes prin-
cipally on the C-boats, separate peace
with Russia, and the sluggish, half
hearted American public"
Talks with German prisoners and doc
uments captured in the British advance
10 not encourage the belief that there
viii be German revolution. at least
not soon The junxers still control Ger
b many. and HohenZOllernism is as ram
pant as ever And the German high
command despite terrific losses in men.
Is depending on machine guns and
barbed wire TO compensate for the Jhin-
ming ranks in Germany's line
So the only antidote is 10 fight II
the Germans are TO be beaten in the
field. then the fght will necessarily he
long. II is comparatively easy for
few men 10 fight defensively behind we'll
chosen positions. in maZes Of concrete
wire. the whole bristling with machine
guns
These positions must he blasted out
mechanically and that means by artil-
Iery-suCh a wealth Of artillery that the
wheels interlOck-and mountains of
shells. SVarms OF serOplanes. innumer-
able transports. trench mortars, gre
nades narrow guage railways, bridge
material and all the other manifold ma
yninery OF war.
Lastly. IL means men-and more men.
one must admit that he British OFF,
GERS are vastly pleased At what America
< doing and do not agree with my in
foruaut. the PurTisDs officer in the bull
psu and his snSers and references to
bluff neither do the thousands of
Americans already here fighting in the
trenches and in the air
But everyone with whom I talked says
zee the same strain
For Gods ~ake tell the folks back
~ home not TO lose time. We've simply
cot TO show these damned Prussians
what the American punch is. IF We
ds1't-we might as well crawl into a
mole and die"