Arizona republican., 1917-11-18
SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER IS, 1917.
The Brutal Facts

The Brutal Facts
 One Iamentable fact in connection with the is or appears to be- that the people not taking as great interest in il as they should. They not filled with enthusiasm as they the little Spanish American war; they are not camoring to go to it or 10 send their sons; there not enough of the Spartan mother stuff with relation the shield which the son should bring home with him 'or it from the field
 Yet. the people when they bayo been appealed to have done very weI-consdering. They subscribed literally to the Liberty Loan, to the Red Cross and other funds related the they co-operated quito effectively in the registration and the draft they have done almost everything they have been asked to do except e-ome alarmed.
 And they have cause to be alarmed so it is the moro wonderful that they are not. America never had SD much at stake and whatever of optimism shere may be scattered around. all tending 10 keep down concern though 1t was not Intended that it should do so, it is war the winning ot which positively depends upon .ae way inc American people get behind the war We shah suffer much before the Germans are whipped more than the people Of this country in the darkest hours have ever suffered. We must make -rea1 financial and personal sacrifice and must be prepared to meet oiaveIy the deepest sorrow The rfzht alss- the battle of Caunoe there was mourn ing in e.er, house in Rome. There will be few houses in America that will not be bghted by the war.
 Why the people have not become awakened is ex- rIslusd in rort by Samuel c. Blythe in the Saturday Evening Post The observations Of 0Ir. Blythe have been made in Washington and in the course of four journeys across the continent The people have been told and made to believe that the is being won in some mysterious way There is therefore nothing for them to worry about And with this assurance, 1t s very easy for those who not represented at inc front or at any of the mobilization not to be greatly concerned over war whose nearest point s 1000 miles distant from the middle part of this country.
 Mr. Blythe believes there has been too much rress-a s-acentiug-too much publicity. He might have added that there has been enough publicity of the right kind The things that would have aroused the people and have fired them action, have been with held from them They have not been told how des- nerate the situation is and that for months it has been getting It could not, of course be wholly concealed from the people that Russia had collapsed and that Italy was crumbling. But these catastophes have been so presented through London to hide the full extent of the disasters official Washington has bettled them by mere conjecture on which fmsy : foundation it has builded hope.
 We are in danger of falling into the error which has been so harmful to Great Britain and which caused so great apathy there early days of the ! war; of minimizing and concealing, when possible,
 
 national disasters. Such a here would bring condition much worse than popular apathy-a loss CT confidence
 It is much better to look things they ! Take the western front which for months has been ! the only bright spot the for and allies; its brightness by the way has been largely the result If camoufage. It has been painted brighter than it has really been. We been told of the steady gaining of their objectives by the French and the Brit ish of the very tfng losses of the allies the heavy losses of the Germans when palpaby esti-
 mates of their losses could have been only guesswork We have been fed up successful drives and of fensive& 50 s1s:goS oS.ss :
 Yet. if take map of the western front we see how pitifuy little we have progressed, over a thin slice of terrain in which the Germans havo really surrendered nothing that know they cared 10 hold Four months ago told that the great coal fields of Lens almost in possession. By a series of victories had secured the heights dom hating Iens making it untenable for the Germans. It must almost immediately fall. We have since then. according the dispatches, been winning almost daily victories north and south of Lens but the Germans all this timeAhave been busy mining at Lens. With the dire shortage of coal in France, Great Britain Italy, surely Lens would be worth taking
 According to nearly all dispatches from the western front our gains acquired with minimum of casualties. Yet official British statement on Tuesday night of the British losses for the week shows that 2S7 officers killed 75O officers were wounded and missing; 14,5oO men in the ranks were killed As there reports of British operations elsewhere except skrmishing with the Turks in Meso 1 potamia where the casualties on neither side were