The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-21

Berlin, March R.-(By wireless to the Associated Press iron, a staff corre- spondent, via Tucker-own, March 2o) The German evacuation of Bapaume. Rove, Noyon and Peronne is but a part of a great strategic undertaking which entire western front and constitute one of the most decisive moves in the war.
 Just as a month ago the Germans evacuated an important sector on the Ancre but kept the fact secret for a week while the British bombarded the empty trenches, so todays report shows the most important development of 1917 on any front. The sector including the evac- uated cities virtually covers the great Somme battle front. Reports from this section of the front tell of effective work of destruction carried out before the oc cupied land was given back to the French and the British so that it will avail them nothing as captured soil, according to views expressed here.
 With the fronts as long as they are in this war, and with the enormous SShiANSAS troops" said higher german military authority today, there is no particu- lar military significance attached to any especial section of the enemy territory. Therefore, we can give up portion of the western front, secure our troops that freedom of movement needed, and end trench warfare. That is what this really amounts to. We are now getting the enemy out of their trenches
 ''The giving up of this portion of our front puts an end to all their finely laid spring offensive plans. Ever since No- vember hundreds of thousands of men lines to prepare for the biggest spring of fensive of the war. Now at one blow all that is gone for nothing. In the face of our withdrawal all this is useless Four months work of millions upon millions of dollars in value, has been rendered valueless, while, more important still all the enemy plans are likewise of no worth. They must make entirely new ones to cope with the new situation. This is a difficult matter entailing weeks, yes, months of work, and requiring an enor- nous quantity of observation. Mean while the enemy is left at the mercy of our plans.
 Tt is most important to remember that the new positions we are taking up back of the old front are built with the aid of every possible device developed by two and a half years of warfare. The old positions were the result of the breaking ,l Paris. Many portions of our positions were held only with the greatest diff ficulty. The trenches were difficult to maintain and the artillery observation points, so important in this kind of war fare, were few.
 ''The new positions are laid out in the best possible locations, with the finest of observation points and deep concrete shelters for the battery positions. While the enemy is coming up to them he will be in the greatest possible difficulties himself in the devastated battlefield.
 q regret exceedingly that this move is forcing great destruction of beau tiful part of France. Yet the destruction is not so great as the devastation in- f1icted by the British and the French on the Somme battlefield and when the entente refused our peace proposal it took the responsibility of this destruction upon itself. It is war measure We are compelled to take it to carry out a mili- tary plan to meet the big offensive the entente had planned. We have destroyed nothing except out of military necessity. We have saved everything we could. We did not with to destroy homes or other structures which offered no miii- tary service to the enemy but we had to make a battlefield out of the territory we are giving up. for in 1t fighting will the hands of the enemy. So we were forced to destroy roads, railroads, wells, buildings of value for military purposes depots, even whole cities. It has been hard, too for the French population but that is the fault of their government. All the men of military age we took back with us. The remainder we have turned over to their countrymen and they are now in French hands.
 'T know we will be accused again of barbarian, but we are fighting for our refusal of the entente to make peace to defend ourselves against their promised offensive, We have done everything we could to avoid needless suffering, but what happens is their fault, not ours.
 We expect the entente to claim all this as a great victory They will say they recaptured these cities They have not. They have not won them by battle.