New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-03-12
Britain Fears Allies Aims Are
Not Clearly Understood Here
r-to D.clared To Be Fighting for All Ideals hat
America Holds Dear and for the Security
of the United States

DIV fne henLTdl 10
two groups of belligerents are treated
"a II thew were pursuing the same /
aims. and a peace without victory u
held out as the best means OF ending
the disastrous conflict in the interests
OF humanity. Bleeding at every pore
and hearing almost intoierable Dlr- /
dens. the Allies are asked from the
calm seclusion Of the White House TO
forepo all result of their tremendous
sacrifices in opposing the Prussianizihg
of the world.
Putting aside all considerations OF
right and wrong, Of international
morality and of future security - Is
impossible not 10 discern IN MI. VII
sons latest utterances close CORE
spondence with the present hopes OF
Cermanv and a total misreading of the
present naval and military situation
American military critics, comparing
the course of the vast operations IN
1916 with that Of 1915, can only nave
reached the conclusion that the violent /
EXPLOSION due to the sudden lettlng
loose of all the forces engendered by
German preparations matured IN forty
vears has reached the limits of its
effects.
Teutons' Reverses in 1916
The present map of Europe is the
measure of those preparations; but,
while in 1915 the Central Powers
achieved military successes, in l9lo
,bev suffered great reverses, except IN
the Rumanian campaign, which compe-
tent critics would rate at its real I'M
portance. and they lost more than nall
a million prisoners to the Allies. IL
was the temporary triumph over the
Runanian army which produced the
| German peace note.
DR.. HALTER has recently explained
the German attitude at Hamburg: Ihe
victor magnanimously made tins pro-
nosal." "Never had a con-
6ueror shown himself so modest, so
Welding. so purely German
The peace move was excellent blGn
at a moment when the resources OF Ihe
Central Powers were showing signs OF
exhaustion, and President WILSON, IN
advocating peace without victory, gave
perhaps unwittingly, his powerful sup.
mort TO what is now the most urgent
need of the rulers of Germany ana
ignored the military situation.
His advice to the belligerent nations
is precisely that rendered to his IL
lustrious predecessor when the military
successes of the Southern armies
reached their zenith and signs OF com
ing exhaustion could be discerned. The
Allies like Lincoln, take their stand
upon a great cause, and realize, as ne
did and as his successor does not, that
enduring peace is impossible unless
victory crowns that cause.
The Present Situation
What, then, is the situation after two
and a half years of a war waged by the
I ,,~.th l plad hrntalltV
by sea and land? The Central Powers
retain the advantage of interior lines
/ and of railway system planned ana
| organized for aggressive war. Ihey
are still able to subject the direction
of their operations TO single WILL
though their servile allies begin to
show symptoms of restiveness.
From the Baltic coast 20 the mouth
of the Danube. across the head of the
Italian peninsula and from the Swiss
frontier to the North Sea they hold
/ fortified lines. on which the engineer
has lavished defensive articles. Their
main strength and their best troops
are disposed on their Western front,
sector of which has come to be regard
ed as "the Grave" from the appalling
losses they have there suffered.
/ On all fronts preparations are being
L
than they have yet encountered,
! equipped almost as completely as their
/ own forces when they decided to make
war. On their Western front they are
now outclassed in artillery, upon which
all their successes have depended, and
/ in the air, whence alone artillery hre
can be effectively directed.
Allies Confident of Victory
The armies of France and Britain
have learned and applied the lessons of
/ the past. They are fully conscious of
moral superiority; they are confident
of victory when the hour strikes, and
this year the victory will not be local
Meanwhile, the Germans surrender
more freely than ever before, and in
the frequent recent raids they have
shown signs of military deterioration
The prospects may well cause anxiety
at the imperial headquarters, and il is
natural that the refusal of the Allies
TO accept peace at the magnanimous
hands of the Kaiser should have caused
depression among the German people.
But this is not all. The blockade, for
many months absolutely ineffective,
J partly because Of the existence Of the
! disastrous though unratifed Declare
tion Of London and partly because Of
] LeNQeEUtoS 70 lHt SuSStpliOllbltS VI
J America, has at length begun to affect
/ the operations on land.
II we had from the first followed the
1 presidents set by the United States,
I the war would have ended before this
] and tens Of thousands of gallant lives
would have been spared. BY hating
steps, not always judiciously handled.
We have reached the point at which
/ real stringency has asserted itself N
enemy countries. The situation which
! the Federal navy was able 70 bring
| about in the Civil War is fast APP
preaching, and. as Admiral Mahsn
| showed, from the universal experience
Of history, sea power is all-potent in
! its influence on war.
Position Is Clear
II is not necessary to believe all the
accounts Of privation which reach Us
! from private sources, although they are
! surprisingly consistent. The German
| food dictator and minor officials have
made the position clear. and in Austria
! the conditions are certainly worse
! There Is doubtless, as .hc German peo-
| pie are being frequently told. a bare
! suficiency OF foodstufs. but an eoui-
table distribution Is manifestly impos-
/ sible.
The difficulties % rationing Paris,
! when tho Germans ruthlessly applied
starvation, were enormous. To ration
| 100000 OF people over huge area
where railways are congested By sup
/ plying vast armies IL a task beyond
/ the power Of any administration, how
ever capable, and the Germans have
clearly failed. Herr Zimmerman has
just stated that privation sis endan-
gering the peoples strength" but. az