Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-11-24
PREPARATION FOR
LONG WAR NEEDED
Informed Opinion in London
Fails to See Early End
of Great Conflict
BY GILBERT VIVIAN SELDES


FNHE previous sections of this review have
| l. Indicated some of the reasons which are
! leading informed opinion TO prepare Tor a
war stil comparatively long. The POSSIBLE
| lty OF great thrust on the western front,
| whlch will break through the German army
/ and ravel II up on both sides, does exist ;
! the ability to win heights to win victories.
! ~ certainly In our hands. Decisions alone
| have eluded us. and we may achieve them.
! But when we deal with probabilities we
| cannot count on such n break through un'
! less we can show the reasons for IT,
The phases Of superiority have been
| 'h''e; Men, material, military Thought ana
civilian sacrifice. In each one the Ger
mans were temporarily superior to the
Allies and their superiority has brought
them nothing. probably because In the third
| instance they were hampcred by IA political
| lnteriority which Is really shocking in a
civilized nation Superiority In men and
material they had to such an extent that
they could establish positions which even
now leave them free TO move: and the great
OBJECT OF our activity is to make them
immobic. except for one dreCtion-hack.
ward. That explains the drive on Italy
superiority In thought they have had in the
establishment Of unified control Su-
pcripri'T i'm sacrifice they still seem to have,
although the sacrifice is not voluntary, is
State-dtrected and tyrannical Except for
the devastated regions. no country has sac
rihced so much as Germany. Compared
with her the three major Allies are living
In luxury and plenty. And each day Of
luxury and plenty l. an added day Of
hloodShed and tears
For "a year have watched the coils OF
war wind tighter and tighter around Eng
land And at the end Of 1t some stray note
from Germany takes the scale from my
eyes and feel that the war has hardly
begun to touch these islands. They are
making sacrifices in men and treasure. as
much as any nation can be asked tC bear.
But the realization that before the war is
won something else must he sacrificed has
not vet come here. That something else |
can only describe as the habit of civilian
life II is the same thing that the United
states will have to give up. and she will
not have three years in which to do it. For
If we are starting whore the Allies left off.
in the matter of conscrption. Cf trench
warfare of control of commodities we must
also start whore they leave off in the mat
ter of sacrifices.
The Civilian Attitude
The civilians natural attitude Of mind is
private, and the one thing which this war
will not brook is private advantage. For
a time lndividual gain may persist, but he.
fore the war is over il will have to go. The
meaning of that Is that little by little every
energy must be absorbed in war-making.
Too much Is at stake to make exceptions,
ulItSS II ne LOT tllc rev processes OF peace
which must be kept going. Gradually un-
essentials must be discarded luxures must
be given up waste must stop. That the
Government will take steps cannot be
doubted. But the citizen must be ahead
of the Government in this matter. He must
not only be prepared for sacrifice he must
insist that the Government demand the
sacrifice. For II Is only when the authority
asks that sacrifice becomes euuahe and
just. The German Governments which has
often shown itself Callous Of the rights Of
ltS subjects, has at least not made the mis-
take of asking or expecting unequal sacri-
hces. The rich and the powerful have
managed to escape certain disagreeable
things; but the general method is that of
equal sacrifice for all
In war like this most men have only
the right to live. and that only until they
are called upon to die. They have not the
right to live well. Most women have the
right to do anything they choose, except
be WaSteful, until they are called unon to
work, Before twelve months are out the
war VIII be making such demands upon us |
that we VIII regret paSSiOnately every hour |
spent in work which was not war-work |
every thought which was not concerned !
with the war II is understood that flesh |
ana blood Will not bear this concentration |
agreed that we must have our theatres |
and our little suppers. But We must stop |
having our theatres and our little suppers |
Il
work done--essential work We cannot |
get through this war on the strength of our |
dissipations in London or New York, or of |
our idlcneSs and ease in Monte Carlo or |
Florida. Nor can we on our slaCkness in |
smaller matters Before the war ends we |
shall have to give up everything we hold |
dear; we shall have to give up more than
Germany has sacrificed
And we shall have to use imaeination
rhe hesitant, Step-by-step method Of deal
ng with the internal affairs of a country
At war is ruinous. Kitchener said three
ears, but England did not prepare for
hree years II a three years war had been
n sight many things might have been
tone, but for some reason the war has
always seemed too short to do the neceS-
ary things. In preparing for "A three years
var ii would have been possible while
abor was still available to work over the
whole transport system Of the United King
lom. 1t would have been plausible to re-
orange the methods of bringing frAit and
'roduce to market, so that the wastage of
ons of precious food would not have oc-
urred in 1917,
Thinking Out" the War
As the habit of thinking of ores self
asses, the habit of thinking for ones self
must remain. II is paradoxical but essen
tally true that with each inroad on the
lights of the civilian the power of the
wi an STO"S Greater. fOE every right the
government takes away II gives "A duty,
thch is like taking away popgun and
living "A howitzer As the civilians duties
Increase he becomes more and more the
ecisive factor in the war. In GERMANY
he civilian has virtually no rights, for he
as been regimented and he is powerful
lie is. unfortunately, not fully conscious,
nd he is loyal) The scale goes down until
n the United States, where the citizen still
e ejoices in most Of his rights he is powerful
MY because we have been in the habit
f listening 10 him and counting his votes
he war power Of the American civilian
'ill only begin to be felt when the civilian
ights of the American begin to disappear
1t will be then that the prime duty OF
linking the war out. of arriving at and
oldng fast to right opinions, will be most
ressing. Speaking from observation of
Ist that period in England. / should saw
nat America will be successful For the
Imagination in us, which Englishmen are
lclined TO consider fiamboyant, will pull us
trough. Nor is il likely that our Govern
tent will wait three years before realizing
ne necessity Of having an informed public
pinion, opposed to "A merely patriotic |
ublic opinion, on its side.
Germanys advantage so far has been
hat she has simple formula, an attrac-
We program and a good foundation of