The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1918-01-10
STAGGERING TASK
BEFORE AMERICA
United States Must Take Place
of Russia If War Is to
Be Won.
MILLIONS OF MEN NEEDED
Great Armies From Across Sea Must
Deliver Final Blow Against
German Legions, Opin-
ion in London.
By JOHN LLOYD BALDERsToN.

Copyright, 1917, by the Mcclure Newspa-
per Syndicate.)
LondOn.-If Germany is to be beaten
In the field, the final blows must be de-
livered by great American armies. The
United States must take the place of
Russia, or the end of the war will find
the German legions still standing stead
tasty on all the fronts.
Returning to London after some
weeks with the armies, found those
views freely, indeed almost unani-
mously, expressed, in military and dip
lOmatic quarters. The same authOri-
ties when 1 had last seen them, had
been more hopeful for prompt success.
The military collapse of Russia has
caused the change in outlook, it has
turned all eyes here and in France to-
wards Washington.
Events transpiring in Russia have
cleared the air, rolling up the fog of
war; The situation, from the German
point of view, is now delightfully."- sim
pie, while few allied statesmen would
deny the truth of one of these two
readings of the position:
1. Germany cannot be crushed in
the field within measurable time; she
cannot defeat France and Britain on
the west front she will therefore give
I'D Belgium, northern France, probably
Alsace-Lorraine, assume control of
Russia, and come out of the war with
the greatest victory in human his
tory.
2. To prevent the formation of an
tnvincible Prussian power based on
the manpower and the incredibly
must and will continue the war until
they can foil the plans of the German
autocracy by destroying that autocracy
itself.
Pay to American People.
If the American people are willing
to subscribe to the first Of these alter
natives, there is no reason why the
war should not end at once. For the
second alternative, there is no reason
why the war should not end at once.
For the second lternative-victOry in
stead of defeat-cannot now be
achieved without the help of the Amer
lean people on a scale undreamed of
a few months ago.
France might die to the last man.
England bleed herself white, and still,
without the full strength of America
in the scale, the exhausted and stag
gering German empire would re19y at
the end as now, 'In the west, whatever
YOU want, but in the east you must
leave u.s."
"What can America do?" has been
my question when the facts about the
Russian situation, the French and
British man power, have been ham,
mered at me. 1t is easy to talk about
millions of men, but the officer prob
lem, questions of equipment and above
all of transport, set strict limits on the
possible achievements of transat-
lantic power in Europe. These things
are we'll understood here, perhaps bet
ter than they are at home, but the
men who are in position to fathom the
present situation always come back to
the same refrain. One of the leaders
of the British empire said to me yes
terday:
eve know the difficulties. But you
must surmount them, if not next year,
then in 1919 If you do not, if you
permit Germany to absorb Russia, we
are all slaves together hencefOrth. We
are doing our utmost, and you know
that we are. To praise France would
be impertinent. If you throw your
&,,@1 y10 or. 1cyo1n a. Franco hos
done, as we have done, victory is GER
tain. If you do not, the future is
black, as black for you as for u.s."
Russia Had Millions in Field.
If America is to take the place of
Russia, what does this imply? Russia
has raised and put in the field, since
the beginning Of the war, about H.
477,O00 soldiers. She has lost, in
dead, wounded, prisoners and inva-
lids, 5,115,000 men. At the time when
her armies commenced to melt away,
and panic before the foreign en-
envy served as prelude to civil
war at home, there were approx
imately 4,750,000 Russian soldiers in
the regular units, and behind these,
available reserves of 3,523,000.
More than 100000 fighting men,
from present indications, must BE writ
ten off the strength of the allies. A
miracle may happen in Russia, but it
would now seem that the time FOR
miracles has past.
1t is with eager hope rather than
the despair of man who has but one
chance left that England and France
are turning to America now. If the
Russian collapse had occurred in Feb
ruary or March the hope would have
been a faint one. The firm belief
prevalent that America will play up"
and save civilization from the conse-
Quences of German hegemony is the
tribute of the allies to the extraor-
binary achievements of the United
States in the past six months. No one
observer in ten on this side expected
such solid results as are now ap-
parent.
AS the strategic position of Amer
lea and Russia are so different, their
abilities to contribute men, ships, mu-
nitlOns and food SO disproportionate
it does not of course follow that be-
cause 100000 Russian soldiers have
ceased to oppose the Germans there
fore America must at once send S,000,-
900 men to France. What the alliance
must have, however, is q pressure at
least equivalent 70 that hitherto exert