The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1917-06-08
THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR.

THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR.
The following extract is taken from
the current Review of Reviews and is
summary OF war conditions as seen by
Frank H. Simonds the noted war critic,
whose predictions in former months
have been remarkably accurate and ac-
cord with the views Of the Pioneer FIX
press but better and more comprehen.
sibly written than we could do it:
1t seems TO me that the German
strategy along the Scrape must be the
same. The French offensive has been
held up. II the British threat can be
beaten out for this year, it casualties
and can deprive the British of the
strength to 60 on for this Summer, then
Germany will have gained many pre-
cious months for her submarine war
and she may believe that Allied discour
agement, a seperate peace with Russia
or some other turn of luck will procure
peace by negotiation before another
campaign can come. Hence the finish
fight along the Scrape.
But tliis is, after all, a gamble. In this
gamble Germany has consumed most of
her strategic reserve IN the West, al.
ready. She has begun to draw upon
troops that we're facing Russia. Such
draft is safe enough as long as Russia re-
mains quiescent and will be justified il
Russia is permanently out. But if Rus
sia ever resumes. if all these reserves
and levies are not sufficient to beat the
British down and the British win the
race to exhaustl IN, then the loss for Ger
many must be terrible.
1t is too soon to speak with any assur-
ance, it is plain that Germany is gam
bling away ali that she has left of re-.
serves, that she is weaking her eastern
front IN the belief that the war must end
this year and that she must force peace
by negotiation this year to escape de-
feat. That she believes she can do this
is obvious,
Since the opening of the Battle of
Arras aud ths French offensive, it seems
to be that the Germans lPss must have
passed the half-million mark; more than
fifty thousand prisoners have been lost
to the French and British. All the &C
counts speak of slaughter unequaled
even in the bloodiest days of the Somme.
That the British losses for April and
May will reach quarter of a million
seems to me likely, nor do I think the
French will have lost less than 10000
for these two months. Here is a>but-
cher's bill for two months of not less
than 100000, with losses in the Balkans
and on the Italian front which must
bring the total up to the million. This
is the measure of the war at the present
moment and it does not need any expert
opinion to demonstrate that such losses
cannot long be borne by the nations at
war.
Could Russia attack now the end
would be in sight. Since Russia cannot
the attrition may go on for three months
more. Personally I do not believe Ger
many can stand the present rate of
wastage beyond the end Of the present
summer. Nor do believe the French
can. I interpret the change in French
High Command, which I shall discuss
in moment, as an evidence that the
cost of the French attack was deemed
TOD great for French man-power to bear.
! do not believe the French will strike
again. unless the wastage of the Germans
in their fight with the British reaches a
point where German lines in front Of the
French are weakened.
There has been no ! special fighting
since Mr.. Simonds wrote the above and
the conditions in Russia are still chaotic
and'to 4 considerable extent unknown
and unkpowable