Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-09-10
EUROPE NOW in AN EXIAUSTING DEADLOCK;
US. CAN Step in AND GIVE KNOCKOUT BLOW
If IT DONE BEFORE SOME ALLY C0LLAPSES
BY Basil N. ManIy.

BY Basil Nj. Manly.
Washington. Sept. 10.-Can the IA
ions deadlocked on the battle lines
SI europe continue to fight In
uenniteiy Issit true, as often stated,
snaL Doth the central powers and the
AAies nave more boys coming to mill
Q age every year than their annual
losses. and can therefore carry on this
e II they will, for ten, twenty or
a arG years with craftsmanship
With such enormous forces as are
u the trenches on the western front,
Will the addition Of 500, 900 or even
g mutton. American troops have any
appreciable effecta
IN Sorde to get the correct answers
Io these questions I went first to war
8 ent officials. They know, be-
cause they have been given the ex-
act Iaess by our allies; but they are
9 the strictest orders not { tell.
I'VE cant talk" they told me. "but
we can tell you where to get what you
want In he military journals Of the
difrerent countries you will and ar
tioles by military authorities who dis
cuss these questions as accurately as
We could II permitted. There is Col.
Fseyler OF the Swiss army, one Of the
Morld's greatest military authorities,
siiaire .Belloc OF England. who has
information of the British war of1ce,
and q number OF others, whose In
formation and Judgment can be relied
on. Bring their statements together,
analyze them and you will have more
q information than you can se-
cure from any. other available
source"
Here then are the facts as I have
CLEANED them from these military au-
simply my analysis Of their conclu-
sions.
Neither group is In the slightest
danger OF collapse as a result Of per-
manent military losses in the form Of
killed, prisoners and incapacitated.
OutSof the wounded and sick now in
hospitals, and the young boys who
can be called up each year, they car
dll in the gaps.
But there Is q wide difference be-
tween the situation of the two groups
IN this respect. Vi
AT the present rate of casualties the
Germantc powers can maintain their
armies at about their present strength
Tor an indefinite period: But they
cannot increase their size without
Gripping their industries ana check
Ing che flow Of food and munitions to
the trenches. 100
Great Britain. France and italy, on
the other hand, without the assistance
OF the United States can annually in
crease their armies by half a million
men without encroachment on their
present labor forces.
The figures on which these state
ments rest are presented in the form
Of q "Man-power Balance Sheet"
So much for the numerical man
power. How about their actual fight
Ing power?
Both groups OF nations are losing
their f9hting men at SUCH a rapid
rate and are 70 largely replacing them
with men weakened by wounds, she'll
shock and disease that by next spring
their actual lighting power for de-
Tense or attack will be only a fraction
of what 1t has been. Germany, Aus
tria, and France have already used
up their reserves OF fresh troops and
have only the young boys who will
be called up but they are not numer-
GUS enough even to replace the per-
manent losses, much less the partial
disabilities which unfit a mar for first
line work.
A glance ct the "Man-power Bal
ance Sheet shows why this must be
true. You will see, for example, that
while Germany chn replace v . q
million men next year, 10000
nearly half---of these gaps must be
filled with men now m hospitals--
patched-up and disease-weakened
wrecks to take the place Of vigorous
men now in the front trenches. who
will die or be sent to hospitals in the
next year lost forever as frst-class
lighting men.
at least half as many men as are
now in each OF the armies, $780,
900 for Germany ]. $780, 900 for France
will pass out Of the armies through
the hospitals next year. Sixty per
cent of them will return to service,
but what will they be worth for siren
uons attacks or tenacious defense?
Military experts count a hospital re-
turn" as worth a good deal less than
half an unwounded q
Remember that wounds, shell
shock, death and capture, fall almost
entirely on the front line troops, the
pick OF the army, and you will under
stand why, although each Of the
armies is larger than yer before, It
IL merely a shell OF Its former self
with a rotting core.
This loss Of fighting men IL hitting
Germany harder than any other IA
ton. In order to meet 1t she has
been forcsd within recent months to
form "storning troops" specially
ments and reserved for attacks, be-
cause the mass Of the German army
has reached a stage where they can
not be depended on for strenuous ac-
ton.
Remember, too, that age Is telling
on all the armies. Men Of As who
Joined the army In 1914 ire now 40,