New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-28

every niece Of ground on which sc happen
20 be standing. II may happen that We give
I'D a position when it IS so devasted oy enemy
fire. that IL could only be held with the great
eat sacrifice Of men. II in some instances the
German army command is persuaded that the
preseryation of the lives Of their men has a
higher value than the possession OF plece
Of swampy ground or Of some smoHed-ou.
ruins. our adversaries every time announce u
as a victory. II this gives them pleasure We
have nothing against II. they may commune
TO claim many victories Of TINS kihd' Du' ~
Belgium or even TO the Rhine, they 40 ho'
come and never will come
LudendorF further said: "Our manner o.
waoinp war is not possible IL one does not
take into account in advance occasional local
revorses. | will not make light OF these
They are often very painful, but for the ai'air
az whole. they arc without signihcance'
And only II one risks these can one carry
through at other places great enterprises
such as our ofTersives in Rumania, IN Eastern
Galicia and in Italy. That means stern re-
snonsibilitv. The determina 70 accept TINS
reenonsibilitv however, is the beginning OF
all strategy. An army leader who IS anxious
that in no place Of the gigantic war theatre
on which the present great struggle is beng
waged change unsavorable for him may
take place. can never accomplish anything OF
innortancc. Such anxiety has as its conse-
ouence that the waging Of war stagnates'
America, the Land of Barnum
"What influence will the American help
which is expected in the coming spring nave
upon the prospects of the war;?
Hindenburg replied: 1.-THE putting adver-
tisement with which America has announced
it's war efforts is imposing and worthy OF the
land which has produced Barnum. Now
we must wait and see whether the results
will be lust as imposing. To be sure inc
United States are busy raising great army
and this effort, with their entrance into the
war, has indeed played part; for IN peace
the American government would scarcely
have been able to overcome the political DIM
entities which oppose themselves 70 the real
ization of their comprehensive armament pro
pramme. Japan also would not have looked
on contentedly. One must ask whether the
Americans. when they have at last great
army at their disposal, will have nothing
moro sensible to do than to ship it imme-
diately over the ocean to Europe. For they
would leave their own land without protec-
tion in case Japan should suddenly show an
inclination to clear off its old score with
America. Another question is, Where VIII
America. with the existing want of tonnage,
get the shiproom necessary to transport hum
dreds Of thousands of soldiers across the sea !
And even if solution of this question should
be possible, a new and much more difficult
one arises-the continuous feeding OF an
American army in Europe. The Entente
lands, which have scarcely enough provisions
for their own armies and peoples, cannot
help. and an intermediate base on the way
across the Atlantic Ocean for the provisions
of the American army from America appears
unthinkable, quite apart from the fact that
our submarines will also have word to say
in the matter. In one word, great Ameri-