The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1917-08-02
FOURTH YEAR OF WAR
Victory Over German Arms Yet
In Future.

hllCnNEh AdS OSSu NlliuISdLSu ny luS
calendar His judgment was the war
would last at least three years. Yes
terday the great conflict enters the
thirty-seyenth month. Whether the
1914 idol of Britain shall go down in
history as military seer or merely
good guesser does not matter. On one
point his fame is assured. KITCHENER
fashioned the plan upon which the
great British citizen army was created.
Unpromising as was the material, great
as was the disparity between the
English forces and the German two
years ago, today the legions of King
GEORGE are superior to those of EN-
peror WILLIAM. If the war could be
decided in Northern France and Bel
GUM there is no doubt as to the final
outcome. The Allies would win even
tuaIly. But at the opening of the
fourth year of conflict there is no more
chance of a military decision, as the
European armies line up, than there
was at the opening of the second or the
third. The point of this is made clear
by MODEST ALTsCHULER, conductor Of
the Russian Symphony Orchestra. who
told reporter at Chautauqua the other
day. 1.-The so-called rout and annihila-
ton of the Russian army Is but an cpl
sode of the war. What we are reading
about is the war on only so miles of
front of 1000 miles. Suppose part of
the army is wiped out. What does it
mean? Perhaps $780, 900 men. but there
are IL, 900, 900 on that 'front.'
Keep that in mind when you are in
clined to be pessimistic about the war
decision; keep it in mind also when the
spirit of optimism rises high. 1t is
fact that cannot be disregarded. 1t
emphasizes as nothing else can the
magnitude of the conflict which our
country entered near the end of the
third year of hostihties. The historical
or traditional millions of XERXEs, ALEX
AMBER and DARIUS fade into insight
ficance when one cOntemplates the
hosts engaged in the World War. The
greatest decisive battles of the past are
duplicated and outdone almost every
day in this struggle, and the end of our
war is not brought appreciablv nearer.
Military victory consists in overcoming
the enemy, annihilating, dispensing or
capturing the opposing army. The
complete overcoming of an enemy in
the third year of the war was Ger
many's rout of the Rumanians. in
which she took possession of practically
half their country. But that did not
end the war; it did not put the Rum
anians out of it permanently. They
have returned to battle. The Rum
anian campaign was but an episode of
the war, just as the Teutonic sweep
through Serbia and Montenegro in the
second year was merely an in cident.
Nothing permanent was accomplished
The Serbian army is still in the field,
not of much use perhaps to the Allies,
but still IN arms and capable of putting
up a COOK fight. There are so many
other fronts and of such enormous
length that the most terrific smash in
esectorlcan hardly affect the course OF
the war. The brlllian victories of HAIG,
NIvELtE and PETAlN, in which linden
BURG was forced back rs miles or more
and a.thousand square miles of French
terrain was recovered from the Ger
mans, determined Allied superiority on
the fronts considered But they did
not put the Germans out of the war
even there. AS to bringing about de-
cision, they cannot be regarded as of
greater consequence than the initial
victories of Won KLUCKiin. 1914, except
the longer the war continues the more
certain it is that the side with the
greater resources will win in the field.
Herein lies the significance of our
entry into the war. We bring to the
Entente side practically unlimited re-
sources of men and materials. Had we
been prepared for the conflict our
weight thrown into the balance might
be worth years of struggle. The Cen
trail Powers will be sworn down faster
than their sdyersaries, but until they
have been so reduced they cannot make
effective resistance on any front the
victories, now to one side, now to the
other, will be but episodes OF small i'm
portance in themselves. Cumulatively
only will they count That is. provided
there Is no decided change of tactics.
Greatshopes are reposed by the Allies
in the air fleet which America is pre-
pairing to send against the enemy. If
it yields advantages as expected on the
Western Front we may be engaged in
reconstruction on August !, 1918. We
hope so. But the lesson of war to date,
and especially of the third year of the
confiict, is that military victory is not
near for either side. Hope of German
defeat rests in America alone. The