Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-12-24
CAN'T H TAI!
ENGLAND, SAYS
CERM I i


Washington. Dec. 14.--The follow
ing TRANSLATION ofaan article: by Gaps.
tain Persius. the German writer on,
naval Affairs. witch Ap~pearsds4ln the.
made public BY the committee on
public Information:
"Lettsrs asking about the prospects,
OF the submarine war are constantly.
reaching me in large numbers. They;
express more and more An impatiefpe.
which may be summed up in the
question, when shall we have over
come England? 4
Throughout Germany the Success
SEES OF our submarines are watched:
with tense interest. Hindenburg said
on July 81: The war Is won for us
IL WI Withstand enemy attacks Until,
tthe submarine campaign has done, its
work. Soon tour enemies will be
forced to U for peace Our .con1-
dence il unshAken, thata our brave
armies will Withstand enemy attacks.
The only thing lacking Is the submla-
rine has done its work. 1t Is natural
turn 60 the results OF the submarine
campaign and that the question Is the
constantly asked: How long will our
enemies tonnage, especially that of
Great Britain. LAST
Hold. No False Hotes.
There IL no ground for Impotence
in readers of sthc Tageblatt They
have been warned since the beginning
Of the wal on commerce, February is,
1916, to be patient We have pointed
out that no exaggerated hopes were
justified and that 1t depended entirely
on the quantity and quality Of the
would come within reach. This goal
was never comparable with that
which the frenxted' fancies Of annex
Ationists imagined. When the re-
strioted campaign began on February
! of, this year. hopes, which are diff
ftcult Of realization, were raised by
thouEhtless words such "a starvation.
overthrow OF England etc. In hir
enthusiasm many a valiant scribblsr
wers- itke those OF = certain nlilkynaid,
Now these prophets ite mbfounded
A rejecting maj rejects any question
Of the starvation and overthrow OF
England. For him the only question
IS, Can wee by diminishing English
tonnage, induce the English to show
themselves inclined soon for a peace
acceptable to us?' What reasons are
there for AN optimism which is t.
some extent UNSUITABLE?
Figures Are Dcceiving.
There IL little use in Investigating
statistius az to the number Of ship.
England had available at the begin.
ming OF the war, the activity of the
yards. how much neutral tonnage she
has forced into her service and how
great her losses have been. No seri'
ous expert Will undertake to say tina
the figures are absolutely reliable, q
knowledge Of which is necessary t.
investigate the results Of the subma'
rtne campaign. Nevertheless. ither,
are various calculations available
compiled with care, but they canno
claim to be absolutely reliable. State
ments by the English have to be &C
cNpted with caution. The unrestricted
deavor to depict the situation as blAcl
to the general public in order to max,
them realize the seriousness Of I'll,
situation led to representations Eoi
which! We should lay no SYalne if SSl
wish tolavoid false hopes. For. eX
ample, the Economist recently sait
that on January l. 5000. 900 ton
were available for mercantile tpur
poses. BY July l the losses had beef
about 5000, 900 M II another 8,
100000 are lost by january |. 1918
beginning Of next year. to which
should be added 1900, 900 of newl.
built ships.
"In answering the question:, 'Nha
has been the result of the sinking o
enemy merchant ships and what viii
the probable effect be?' it is as vel
to use common sense If the Englisf
have so far been able to secure foot
supplies, they have at least fouI
months. without anxiety in front Q
them as they now have their harvest