Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-05-18
ANOTHER YEAR OF WAR
NOW SEEMS R T

SUI pTlSe III gone.
We must all of us guard against an
optimism which will do no good, and
may have infinitely harmful conse
quences. Reading u dispatches every
lay, we may easily conclude that so
many victories must assure the imme-
date collapse of Germany. But Ger
many sees it quite differently, she sees
that i'm distant France her armies are
stlll contesting the ground they have
long held. The loss of "a French village
or town means much to the French and
British who take it. 1t does not mean
much to the German people who learn
they have lost ii.
In the United States we easily imag-
inc that the news that we have entered
the war must have a profound effect
upon Germany morale. 1T will have, but
we do not understand that this is bal
anced by the effect pom German
morale of the collapse of Russia and
the plain possibility, believed to be Il
certainty by most Germans. that Rus
STA will shortly make Il separate peace.
Eventually we shall be a worse foe
than Russia. but today Russia has mill
lions of trained soldiers where we have
hundreds; h has cannon, armies and
a common land frontier with Germany;
we are thousands of miles away, with
out armies, cannon or a road to Ger
man trenches, save by the submarine
infested ocean lanes.
Viewed as a military problem. the
war is advancing toward a satisfactory
solution with unmistakable regularity.
Britain has come into the field this year
organized, her armies and her generals
are trained, her man power is at it's
maximum. h outguns the Germans
and her armies. unlike the French n
the German, are msSa up of young men,
the best of her manhood. German
armies are retresit'lg and German
hopes of conquest have long ago faded
into the hope of a drawn battle. The
now hopes to last long enough to es-
cape destructive peace terms.
But it is not yet time to expect n
German collapse. granted that n col
lapse must ultimately come. When the
war is over the cost to Germany in
manhood will be beyond that of all
other nations. She spent huge mum
GERS against France in the first cam
paigp and before Verdun: her losses in
her Russian campaigns were very
great, particularly in the first years.
At the Somme h suffered mainly at
British hands. while the French loss
was relatively small. Today her great
who are, in turn, bearing the heaviest
burden. Tomorrow Germany may en-
pect to lose to the American troOp that
are to come.
Germany's Human Sacrifice.
When the war is over the percentage
of men killed and disabled in Germany
will vastly exceed that of any of her
foes. But since the lines that h
holds arc relatively short, she is still
able to man them. She had more han
S.OOO,OOO to start with. Her own lists
show a loss Of more than 10000 0
which means a permanent loss of above
1000. 900. Such figures as l can get
suggest that her loss has been much
greater, perhaps her permanent loss
all that are needed to hold her lines and
give her sue reserves as h yet
needs. however greatly she may be out
numbered.
The military and political masters of
Germany have decided that even the
great una sacrifice. disproportionate
10 that of all other nations fighting.
shall be borne by Germany rather than
that the shall have to concede defeat
or Civ up stolen territory. So far they
nave been able to persuade their people
to stand by them: they have been able
to do this because of the submarine
and the Russian revolution. We be-
lleve Germany is beaten, but we a
no means OF convincing the German
people. They believe that the allies
must give over the battle before num-
bers win it for HEM. Even though we
refuse to accept their logic, we must
recognize that they accept it. n that
just as firm ground. so far as
their minds are concerned, as does our
determination for us.
In sum. the present indications all
point to a campaign of 1918. Despite
German shortage of food, it now seems
likely that Germany will weather the
crises OF June and July and survive
until the naw r1,nn haDin0 tn cnnoo in
n means that there will be no sur
render due to famine his year.
On the military side there is no pres
ent promise of a German collapse be-
fore snow flies. despite the steady prog
ress of British armies and the unmis-
the Germans in material and men. Fur
tner German retreats are assured. but
there IL no present indication that these
retreats will bring the allies much be-
yond the Belgian frontier or within
striking distance of Aix-la-Chapell and
the lower Rhine.j
w Must Prepare for 1918.
A complete Russian collapse would.
II followed by a separate peace, make
1t Inevitable that the United States
should 9 vast armies to Europe and
the French and British armies would
have to play the role Of the French
army from the Marine to the SOmme;
they would have to hold up Austro-Ger-
man numbers until the new ally was or
ganized and on the field. A Russian at
tack. on the other hand. unlikely as it
now seems. might end the war this
year. So might an Anglo-American
demonstration of success in feeding
Britain n disposing Of the submarine.
But. laying aside all those elements
which represent the chances and look
ing at the situation purely from the
military point OF view. 1t seems to me
that Germany has the men. the guns
and. SO as 1t il now safe to calculate.
the will to carry on for the present year