The Washington herald., 1917-07-15
CCopyisht, 1911, By the Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicatsl
BIZ JOHN LLOYD BALDERsToN.

in France-The great job OF sanitary
engineering in this war is being car
ried out slowly. but with relentless
certainty. II probably never occurred
to q beholder, watching the great
steam dredges Of Col. Goethals SCOOP
ing out the Panama Canal, to wonder
whether the Job would ever be finished.
How long il would take to dig the
canal no man knew, but that It would
be dug, nobody doubted. That is the
way I feel whenever l see the British
military machine at work.
Through the courtesy of the British
stan I have recently spent some days
Inspecting the battle front along the
whole line where active fighting has
been in progress this year. The un-
satisfactory military situation in Rus
sia. which has helped the German
defensive upon this front, has been
responsible for pessimism in London OF
late. Out here, the men who are doing
the fighting are optimistic. 1t has not
always been so; left an optimistic
London IN the spring of 1916 and found
the front not pessimistic but grimly
aware OF the long and uphill road
ahead. It was the same In the midst
Of the battle OF the Somme. but In
the winter. where fighting had died
down. I found the front more "bucked
up than ever before. And now. the
front Is confident that the Germans
have shot their bolt.
London guesses. but the front knows.
That is why these alterations OF
feeling are not only interesting, but
important But the back keeps muir
rnuring, our losses are heavy. NO
doubt the German losses are heavy
too, but we are not gaining much
ground. We read Of bitter fighting
lasting for weeks in the ruins of some
insignificant village. What about Lille
and Lens and st. Quentin? When are
we going to reach the Meuse, let
alone the Rhine?
Not even three years Of war have
taught the people who say these things
to-think as the soldiers think. The
soldier brushes aside all such talk as
Irrelevant. His job. he knows, Is to
beat the German army. When that
has been done the war will be over.
Movement as measured on a map does
not interest him at all except as II
helps to kill Germans. He complains
bitterly, when he has time to consider
public opinion. that civilians cannot
think OF fighting except in terms Of
geography, OF advance and retirement,
which, until the final break through"
comes. II It does come, are relatively
untmportsnt.
Secrecy of War.
In attempting to sum up the situa-
ton on the Western front this sum-
mer as the soldiers see il, a reporter
is at once faced with the factors that
have misIed opinion everywhere. Civil
ians have maps. Progress upon a
map can be vIsualized by anyone. All
infantry fighting results from an at
tempt by soldiers of one side to reach
a point on the map held by the enemy.
The success or failure Of these at
tepts Is at once announced in the bull
letins.
It is movement. and movement alone
by which the public Judges fighting,
because il Is not allowed to know
anything else. Each side keeps its
own losses secret, and can only guess
at those OF the enemy. Neither side
tells the world how many shells it
fired In an action, how many Of its
guns were worn out. Yet these things
are often. indeed usually, of very
much more Importance than the loss
or capture OF a village like Fresnoy
or Bullecourt. II may possibly come
about at a later stage of the war that
Lne VI CGA tam SAlAP VI
ground will decide the fate of an
army. Most soldiers do not think so,
and they all agree that this is not
true today.
The best way to appreciate the pro-
gress OF the war in France, it has
been impressed on me again and
again. Is to forget the map. There
are on the FTanco-British front a GER
tain number of British and French
divisions. Opposed to them are 143 or
IA German divisions. The object of
the allies is to so on fighting, under
the most advantageous conditions pos
sibIe, until the 1i4 German divisions
plus all the reserves and units from
other fronts that may be brought
UP, are so smashed that they can
no longer take the punishment. Then,
and then only. will come the break
through" so much talked about, but
victory will not come this year; 1t
may not be possible at all without the
help of great American armies.
The great progress toward the final
goal that has been made during the
earlier stages Of the 1917 campaign
by the French and British armies,
must be measured not by liberated
towns, but by Il losses suffered by
those IA German divisions. 1t is pos
sible to give Approximate figures
showing what the German soldiers
have had to endure, and are enduring
this year.
When the campaign opened in March
the trench lines from Switzerland to
the sea were manned by about 100
German divisions, while grouped in
the rear as q strategic reserve were
a divisions which Hindenburg hoped
10 use in an offensive which was to
regain the initiative for Germany aft
er the March retreat had disorgan-
lied the allied plans. The pursuit
was more rapid that the Germans
thought possible, the British blow at
at the Vimy ridge came three weeks
before 1t was expected, and the old
marshars plan were glimmering. He
had to stand and fight on the defen-
sive, abandoning his strategic scheme.
German Division. Reduced.
The German divisions are now only
three-quarte7s their former strength.
and consist, as a rule. of nine battal-
ions instead of twelve; which means
e.eoo bayonets to the division IL each
battalion is at full strength. but in
practice not more than 1900 bayonets
10 an average division.
In the first six weeks of fighting this
year. ninety-two German divisions
were sent in against the British in
the Arras battles and against the
French on the Aisne and in Cham
payne. OF these divisions. twenty
seven were so shattered that they had
to be withdrawn, and later appeared
again. their gaps refilled with re-
serves. Several have come back for
The third time. In six weeks, there
fore. only forty-seven OF the German
divisions garrisoning the Western
front had not been dragged into the