Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-05-18

were compelled to retreat in the spring
and they seem certain to end by making
Il similar withdrawal before this CAM
paign ends. But if the Germans are
compelled to withdraw to the lFrench
frontier, if. and this is an extreme ex-
%pectation, they are compelled to retire
TO the line of Antwerp. Brussels, Ma
muir and the Meuse, they will still be
provided with admirable defensive lines
and they will have shortened their front
and thus reduced their responsibility
IN men; that is. reduced the number of
men needed to hold the front by several
hundred thousand.
way there is the possibility of a
German disaster, of Il sudden collapse
or German morale. uch "A collapse is
not IN the least impossible, and we
nave German testimony to prove that
!, was ~perilously near at the end of
the Somme light last year. But again
II is not a thing on which to calculate.
save Tor accident, the Germans have
the men and the munitions to defend
themselves Tor the present campaign.
4, Iney nave recently rallied after initial
aeieat by the British, and they have
peeh able to hold the 'rench with little
gain i'm the greatest offensive that the
rreich have yet undertaken. and the
failure of this offensive to win a de-
G.slon mas led to a modification of
French military command.
l 90 not wish to seem to minimize
recent allied success. Forty thousand
prisoners. 400 guns, Vilny ridge and it's
accessories are the biggest bag in the
west since the Marine campaign closed.
me brltlsh performance demonstrates
mat IN the long run the new British
armies must win the war. for the man
power of Britain il now greater than
mat or Germany, including British coll
onles, and besides there is the consid-
cradle remaining man power OF France.
4 Snhoo rsNA @~I o.,.-S- ~:.- L--
But the German eckons that before
the allies, given their present rate of
progress, can reach Germany, Britain
VIII starVe. He calculates upon a sepa-
rate peace by Russia, or at the least
RUSSIAN quiet. If his submarine cam
palgn were a demonstrable failure. if
there should be "A. Russian offensive like
that of Brusiloff last year, he would
probably make peace on terms thai ne
would not now think of. But he has two
soma reasons for expecting to escape
ultimate defeat, the submarine and
RUSSIA, and he is likely to keep on,
unless he starves or is defeated in the
field. until both hopes have vanished.
ANA II Is n demOnstrable to him or
to the world that the submarine cam
paisn will fail. We know it cannot
succeed this year. If by next year
American aid and British effort com
bine to establish the fact that Britain
ShS VIZ otlaIi lldKS d
German surrender because there will
be left no German hope of success. il
Russia has not made separate peace,
But If Russia make a separate peace
there is an end of starving Germany
and the man power of France and
Great Britain will not be able to tear
down Germany and Austria with their
fringes of allies: not even with Italy
could this be expected.
A separate peace with Russia means
that the United States must supply the
man power to defeat he central en-
pires. and it means that unles. the
United States. in addition, can supply
the food for Britain, the steel for
France and the coal for Italy, there
can he. at the least, IA drawn battle in
Europe. We shall have to take Russia's
place in the battle line. and we shall
not be a complete substitute, for we
cannot exclude Germany from Russian
wheat fields.
New Peace Campaign in the Fall.
Germany expects to hold out until
winter. She expects by her submarine
campaign to bring Britain, at the least,
to the edge of famine. She plans to
renew her peace campaign of last year
with the end of the present campaign.
h expects that the end of this cam
paign will find her still fighting far
within enemy territory. Her campaigns
are now directed to holding, to the de-
fensive on land: she relies only upon
the water for her offensive, but she
relies heavily upon it.
IL the United States decides to send
troops at once to Europe. if she begins
at once the transport of these troops.
n II 1t becomes clear to the Germans
tnat we can send and maintain troops
III France. that we are going to send
masses and that sometime next yea
American armies will take their place
Il on tho Ernnt thar, <h~ - 49,
war will be plain to all Germans. on
the military side. This will be true
even II Russia has made a separate
peace.
II the United States, acting with
Britain can. by building ships. by US
Meet, by all conceivable, demon
strate that the submarine cannot
blockade Britain. that the British peo-
pie can continue for Il year or two
more, then the German hope will ex-
pre-. But it will take not less than a
year to establish these things. and in
al! this time h German army will
still be able to defend Germany and
the German people nay easily be con-
WINGED tina Britain is at the end Of
her resources.
Examining the present campaign be-
FORE Arras, 1t is We'll for all Of us to
note its resemblance to Verdun, and the
assertions now made by the British in
evitably suggest the German state
ments when they mad failed to get the
French fortress by a single thrust. At
h time the Germans saw the extent
of their first success and the gain to
them in the tall of Fort Douaumont.
They asserted (falsely. it seems now)
that they had taken 1000 prisoners. AS
they continued to gain GRAND, and
they did continue to gain ground right
up to the moment of the Somme at
| tack. from February to AuR1sf they