The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1918-10-18
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formation he referred to. In nearly
every case, II appeared, the kaiser's In
formants were misleading him.
Both before and after we entered
the war the kaiser was thoroughly con-
WINGED thet we could play only nom
inal part In 1t so far as man power
was concerned and his assurance on
that point undoubtedly accounted for
his decision to carry through his sub
marine program even though IL re-
suited in bringing US into the war.
'Do you realize how-many tons of
shipping 1t takes to ship single sol
dlerT he asked me on one occasion.
confessed my ignorance on that
point.
"Well, It takes six tons to the man
To send over an army Of 100000 men,
therefore, your country would require
100000 tons Of shipping in addition
to the tonnage required for regular
traffic. Where is 1t coming from. with
my submarines sinking the allied yes
sells faster than they can ever be re-
placed7 My U-boats are doing won
derful work and we are prepared to
take care OF all the troops America
may try to land In France"
"How foolish for America to have
come into the war;" he went on. "If
she could succeed in landing a real
army in France, what good would 1t
do? America can see how easy 1t was
for me to break through and to cap
ture 100000 Of the Italians, and they
must realize that can break through
on the western front and do the same
thing there. II America had kept out
OF the war she would have gone on
making untold profits and when peace
was finally declared she would have
been in most enylable position
among the nations of the world. AS it
| is, Wilson will never have a seat at
the peace table If ! can help 1t, and
now America shall have to pay all the
costs of the war" Evidently he mag
lned that his triumph would be so
complete that there would be no peace
table, but that the warning nations
would be compelled to accept the
terms he offered them. In which event,
knowing the magnanimity of the Ger
man makeup, should say the world
at large would have to be content witt
very little.
How the kaiser feels now that the
failure of the U-boats to intercept
American troop ships must be pain
fully apparent to him, and Americf
has so overwhelmingly overcome th'
shortage of shipping, don't know, bu
IL is more than probable that for some
time to come the real situation will, a
any rate. be successfully concealed
from the German people. know tina
the failure OF the U-boat campaign wa'
unknown to the Germans up to thu
time left BerlIn-in January, 1918.
While the kaiser and the Germans
generally felt confident that we woult
never be able to send many mel
across, they protested to feel Httl
concern even IL we did.
According to some of the German of
flcers with whom / spoke, even If W
landed 100000 men In France
would not be enough to break tn
deadlock, as the Germans We're taking
similar number of trained troop
from the Russian front. The onl,
menace of American participation Il
the war lay In the possibility that w
might add considerably to the allie
air strength. Man power alone, the
commended, would never be sufficient t
, help the allies much, but overwhelmin
superiority In the air might occasion
the Germans some annoyance.
The kaiser himself had but poo
opinion OF the fighting qualities of tn
American soldier so far as modern wa
requirements are concerned.
. 1.-THE American soldier would pos
sibly give a good account of himsel
! in open fighting" he declared, but h
| | is not built for the kind of warfare h
| viii encounter In France. He lack
e the stolldlty to endure life in tn
trenches. He Is too hlgh-strung an
4 couldn't stand the inactive life whie
!. is such an important part of moder
. warfare. Besides. he lacks disciplin
q and trained officers"