Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-12-12
No Danger of Foe Reopen
ing Hostilities, Declares
Correspondent
ARMY Is NONEXISTENT
Allies Can Control Situation
by Withholding Food Which
Is Badly Needed
u BY WALTER DURANTY
peciaI Gable to Epening Public Ledger

Copvrioht, 1918, ~ Neip York Times Co.
Paris, Dec. Il.
What has most struck me since my
arrival in Paris Saturday night from
( occupied Germany is theh recurrence OF
the same question: We'll, is it really
finished? Is there any chance OF the
boche beginning again?' IL nave
heard it once, I have heard it fifty times
frequently from Americans or Britlsh'
ana on the lips Of French people almost
without exception. At first it seemeu
frankly ridiculous that such an idea
could be entertained, but the constant
repitition Of it demanded attention
Whatever may be the reasons from
which the query may arise. / can answer
il with certainty, based not only on an
Investigation of all shades of civil and
military opinion in occupied Germany,
but on nine months close association
with. the French in the conduct OF mill
tary operations from the time Of the
spring disasters to the end Of the VIC
torious campaign.
There is no danger whatever of Ger
many reopeling hostilities.
To begin with, an attempt is utterly
hopeless from a military standpoint.
Even a Prussian captain of shock
division with whom l talked admitted
readily that the French army alone
could smash them without difficulty 1t
cannot be too widely or too thoroughly
understood that the Germans asked for
4 arrrlistice on any terms the Allies
wanted. because they were defeated in
sss war. There had not yet been a
colossal debacle, but the German army
leaders knew it was inevitable if hos
tilities continued.
Germans Beaten to q Frazzle
Even before the armistice was signed
the revolutionary movements had broken
out, a-d the bonds of dscplide were
breaking. Al attempt to fight on would
simply have mean. for German. on
vaster and more terrible scale Wit
happe 1ed to Russia in the battle of
July, 1917. No matter what the Ger
mans or their friends and dupes may
say now or later, the fact remains that
they were completely at the mercy of
the Allies-literally beaten to a frazzle.
have vet omeet any Germans who
would countenance for a moment the
mere idea of beginning the war again.
u
it, but know it is to be impossible.
German Army Nonexistent
The German army ans a fighting
force is nonexistent. A great many SOL
liers have returned home with or with
out leave. and the immensely complex
Of transport and supply
needed for modern war is shattered
beyond repair.
There is not enough food in Germany
10 feed the population for six weeks
without importation from Allied sources.
The boches have known that the Allies
won't let them starve and food restric-
lions have gone by the board. Where
local authorities tried to maintain them
there was a fiare-up of something resem-
bling Bolshevism which speedily brought
them into line.
From the Allied standpoint, this per-
haps is one of the most favorable flea
lures of the troublesome problem pre-
sented by the German internal situation.
II we insist on good behavior as the
price of food, disorder or undesirable
extremism can easily be suppressed
without the expense or the difficulties Of
military interference.
In some respects Germany Is ready
for a dumping" trade war.
They have undoubtedly a considerable
stock of glassware, cutlery, electric ap-
pliances, Photographic materials, and
iron or steel goods stored UP for eX-
portation, if the Allies will allow it.
i1 From the French army viewpoint, the
thorny question Of the Rhine frontier of