The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1917-11-22
No Peace Possible Before
1919, Says Congressman
Back From Battle From

Chicago, Nov. 18.-Russia's collapse
and the unreadiness of the United
States make hopeless any thoughts Of
peace before 1919, in the opinion of
Medill Mccormick, congressman-at-
large of Illinois, who has just return.
ed from visit to most of the import
ant fronts of the European battle line.
Mr. Mccormick said:
"The Germans are not winning the
war;
Neither are we.
"The war today presents a stalemate
from which we are unable to extricate
ourselves, because Of the collapse Of
Russia and the unreadiness of the
United States.
nowhere in Europe did find an in
formed soldier or public man who be-
lieved that military decision could
be achieved before 1919, when the
United States might be ready to add
effectively to the sum of pressure on
the central empires. Perhaps economic
conditions or political events in Ger
many may induce peace before that
time, but although Germany is suffer
ing more than her western enemies
her autocratic machine and her econ
omic reserves seem altogether equal
TO hold her together through more
winters. There is practically no hope
that Russia can be in any sense useful
during the year 1918. From the most
responsible people l heard a disheart-
ening tale of Russian inefficiency, cor
ruption, incendiarism and murder.
Russia is so disordered that she can
not make war. Happily, in all proba-
bility, neither can she make peace.
Grand CamoufIage
''Since the German high command
controls all the central powers from
the Bosphorus TO the Baltic, their at
Citude is that they act with greater
energy and skill than their enemies.
Thus they launch seemingly sue
cessful drive into Italy. If the Ger
man high command hoped for a true
military success, certainly they did
not believe they would achieve it. The
real object Of their political foray into
Venetia was partly to make camou.
dage Oh a grand scale to conceal their
steady losses from Verdun to Pass
chendaele and partly to provoke revo-
luton in Italy.
the Italians would not have been
driven back so far as they were if
two or three divisions, holding an al
most inlpregnable point, debauched
by the excellent spy system of Ger
many, had not thrown down their
arms.
Guns, Guns, Guns
shipping, to be sure, is necessary
before anything else, because vessels
must carry to France the engines If
destruction, but above all else, heavy
guns are necessary-heavy guns with
their compliment Of air craft and rail
transportation. but heavy guns and
still more heavy guns, TWENTY-FIVE
thousand cannon to be made in
American factories and shipped to
France before March l, 1919.
1--WE cannot hope to have vast
army in France next year. But Ameri-
can furnaces furnish as much steel as
the furnaces OF all Europe, and l say
respectfully, but very earnestly, that
to make our contribution to victory,
to make guns that lives make be saw
ed, we must have greater coordination
of effort than we now have We must
have more powerful direction greater
unity of effort, true war council such
as does not exist in Washington-a
council of men, who, irrespective of
faction and party, represent in the
greatest degree the energy and the
genius of America"