The Washington herald., 1917-07-22

German reaction. to suppose that
were there the slightest hope Of re-
Yersing it. and even some approach TO
the ability to do 50, the enemy would
accept this defeat and its conse.
ouences, is fat absurdlty. That Is one
piece of evidence. But lately. In the
form of raids. the British have been
feeling the German front over prac-
tically its whole extent. The result
has been, broadly, everywhere the
same. The enemy has become pas
sive where before he would undoubt-
edly have shown himself active. Piece
of evidence the second. There Is a
third. The mass attacks against the
French have dwindled down into mere
minor surprise rushes.
sign Of Teuton Weakness.
"AH these circumstances point to
the same conclusion, and indeed admit
of no other. The gap south of Ypres
has been filed by readjustment, and
not from any reserve force, and the
readjustment has embarrassed and en-
feebled the. defensive generally.
THAT is of moment for three rea-
sons. First. as the power of the de-
Tense has thus been proved to havs
been already fully engaged. the as
sault on the White Sheet Ridge, being
an extension of the area and scope OF
the allied offensive, has brought
actively into play forces that were not
previously active. In other words, 1t
has enlarged the range and the
momentum of the general attack,
while the range and counter
momentum of the general defense re-
mains as before.
Secondly, combined with that en-
larged range and momentum, the
operation has further disclosed the
technical superiority of the attack
over the defense. The attack, in
short. has not only developed in
quantity; it has developed in quality.
The superiority is of two kinds, and
of the two the quality is certainly not
the less telling.
Thirdly, there Is the moral effect.
And as usual it cuts two ways. The
spirit and confidence of the attack
ing troops have been heightened just
in the degree that the spirit and con-
fidence of the defending troops have
been depressed.
The doubling mind can put these
three things together-increased rela-
tive momentum OF the attack,
technical superiority, and moral ef-
fect-and see what they mean as re-
CARDS the decision, and what a long
step they do represent forward, as
regards the end.
Decisions in war are brought
about. above all, by changes in the
balance of strength between the
armed powers opposed. In this in
In
has been. during this past week,
a sweeping change. But in fact
such a change has been in progress,
at any rate on the west front, since
the beginning of April. 1t has been
becoming more accelerated week by
week, indeed, day by day. Recent
and present events are the indica-
tions of 1t. and can not nationally
be interpreted in any other way.
The range of an offensive is not
measured by the ground 1t happens
to cover, but by it's detectives, and
IL these detectives apply to the
whole of a vast battle. like that in
France-for the White Sheet Ridge
operations are an integral part Of
that battle-and to the issue of n
campaign, the range is about as
long as can we'll be imagined. 1t
is missing the point to measure
the effect of an operation of this
kind in yards.
I'm truth, the real progress of
the battle in France lies in the
steady elimination of the element
Of uncertainty from the Issue. The
Kaiser. in a lately reported speech
to division of his Guards. is said
to have spoken about breaking the
allies will to carry on the war.
The statement perhaps expressed
his fixed resolve, but to have a
fixed resolve Is one rnIng. and to
command the means of giving eff
feet to 1t, quite another. The
Kaiser is doubtless quite aware
that modern mass armies are melt
ed down into disorganization, and
therefore into powerlessness, by
shocks. But. unless grossly mIsled,
he can hardly fail also to be aware
that it is his own forces that are
enduring the shocks"