Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-12-23

military SIDE are threatened Win ~
But on the material side the German
position is infinitely worse than q
year ago. and 1t is to the material SIDE
that the world Will look more ana more
henceforth for the solution of this great
est Of wars. In the last year Germany
has not lost more men than her french
and British opponents, conceivaoly, but
she has borne the loss alone. wniie the
French and British have divided IT. In
two years the British may have lost
100000, the French 100000. but the
Germans have lost 100000. including
their casualties in the Russian and
Italian fields. This means that the Ger
man Industrial machinery, the human
machinery, is being burned up almost
twice as fast as the French or the Brit
ish, while we, the other great rival,
have as yet lost nothing in man power.
And at the same time the year has
seen the United States enter the war.
Immediately turning over It's great re-
sources in money and credit to the al
lies and preparing to turn over its mil
lions of men. In 1919, II the war en-
dures that long. we shall take over a
portion of the human losses OF the al
lies, while the drain on German man
hood will remain constant. And with
our entrance into the war We have
taken up new relations with the
enemies OF the Germans, which will en-
dure after the war. and, together with
our financial commitments to Britain.
France and Italy. will insure close re-
lations after the struggle. when the
war ends our investments in Britain
and France win he tremendous; merely
TO protect them, if for no other reason.
we shall have to bend our efforts to
aid in rehabilitating these countries.
Thus, in fact. although not by any
treaty written or likely to be written.
there is forming great economic al
lance against Germany which will en-
dure after the war Its cement Will be
the blood of the soldiers of the allied
nations shed in p common cause and
against common foe. All the nego-
tiations, arrangements, interchange OF
men and ideas among the allied coun-
tries will contribute to erecting an al
lance not less real because it has no
scrap of paper" to guarantee it.
Germany's Future Menaced.
All this commercial Germany sees.
Much of il this commercial Germany
recognizes is now unavoidable, but out
of the ruin much may perhaps still be
saved if the war does not go on for
a year or two more and complete the
organization of the world against the
fatherland But each month the war
understanding, this community of ac-
ton among her enemies menaces Ger
manys future, and the more successful
her armies are in the field, provided
they do not accomplish an absolute
triumphant no German expects this
the closer this alliance becomes and
the more closely united are the French.
the British and the Americans, to say
nothing of the Italians and all the
smaller nations now allied with the
anti-German group.
Hence. it is essential to Germany to
have peace Each day the war con-
tinues is a lost battle. even though 1t
it marked by no captured trench or
city. This is why the German talks
peace This is why the German agent
talks: peace: this is why every German
intrigue is directed toward procuring
peace. We on the allied side believe
that in time. and when America arrives
on the battlefield, the victory can be
won in the field. The German, equally
honestly, believe that he can never
be defeated and conquered by the OPP
posing armies, and his arguments have
their value. But what the German does
recognize more clearly than the
of victory which escaped him at the
Marine and at Verdun he will lose the
war il 1t is protracted. even IL his
armies are unconquered. because his
whole commercial and industrial fu-
ture is being destroyed while his
armies remain unbeaten and his lines
mistaken.
Now. in this situation and temper the
German is going to propose peace again
What will his suggestions be? He wants
peace and he must pay a price. but his
foes desire peace and are also suffering
from war-weariness. In this situation
there is an irreducible minimum that he
would not recognize last year and must
recognize this year as unacceptable. I'm
til he is prepared to eyacuate Belgium