Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1917-11-23
The Crisis.

of the war comes to he written The
closing DAYS Of October, 1917, will
he looked upon as the beginning
Of the critical period, saws an ex
change. Tie victory Of the Aus.
tro German armies along the lSon-
20 has made open warfare possible
on the Western front for the first
time since the British and French
rolled back the first great German
offensive and pinned the enemy
down to its line Of trenches from
the Vosges to the sea. What use
the Germans or The Allie make Of
that opportunity may determine
the issue of the var.
The first news Of the italian d.
feat came ne a staggering blow 70
the Allied nations. The great sue
ccssps that Cadorna's armies had
won in the face Of extraordinary
obstacles had given US all conf.
dence in their ability to hold the
Austrians ut bay and, aS their sup
plv of ammunition increased, to
push their waV on to Trieste or
@ to Laibach on the road to
Vienna. The military collapse Of
Russia has enabled Germany to
come to the relief Gifts hard pressed
ally, and the skill Of the German
General staff has been equal to
to the task set before it.
1t is useless to minimize the 90
robustness Of the first defeat. Thou
sands of men and hundreds o.
guns were lost, and all the terri
tory won by two years of hald
and bloody fighting had to be civ
On up. But the campaign was no.
lost. The Italian armies reformed
undismaved and strengthened ~
the support that Franc" and Eng
land can give them, they may We
redeem themselves. They have a.
opportunitv TO win 1T the Piavc
river or the Brenta n victory tha'
will do more to end the war thar
months Of arduous trench fighting
On the other hand, the Germans
have their chance, too. Another
crushing {. feat might so far cX
haust italy ~ to make it a ncgli
gible figure in the war. Germany
is playing It's last trump card in
land warfare. If it can put Italy
out as it has put out Russia and
the Balkan nations, it a then
mass the entire strength of itself
and its allies on the western front.
and perhaps force n peace that will
give it most Of the objects for
which it went to war. More: if it
can find the men, it might threaten
France with invasion along its
southeastern frontier.
It is clear that the Allied states
men and military chiefs under
stand the critical nature of the
situation. They are h%urrying men
and guns into Italy, and it is sug-
gcsted that rs winter closes in on
Flanders there may be n shifting
of strength to the italian front,
and a campaign there that will &C
far toward deciding the war. FoI
Austria can stand a defeat in the
open field no better than Italy i
indeed so we'll, and the lose o
Austria would he quite as serious
n blow to Germany rs the loss o
Italy would be 70 the Allies.
To us here in America the lessor
of the moment is plain. We mus
strain eve'v n..e. &. give our nj
lies what bcip N. .. n this grca'
crisis. We cannot, it is true, d,
all we should like to do,-all tina.
we are ready to o,-bccause W,
have not enough ships. Not unit
the middle of next summer at tn,
earliest shall we he able to trans
port and maintain really larg'
numbers Of troops. Meanwhile
we must bend all our energies t,
the unremitting building of ships
there have been far too many de
lays already. Henceforth inter
ference with the shipbuilding pro
gram, whether by strikes or b.
squabbles, must not be tolerated.