Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-10-22

and last settling down 70 stubborn and enectual
resistance? The second month of Marshal FochS
uuccasins blows went FAR toward resolving these
doubts. Day after day the far-reachIng results OF
mis- cOnsummate generalship and OF The splenull
pscwess OF the armies under his command grew
more distinct, more imposing. In this period VIZ
/ suaIly all the territory won by the enemEs last
: Offensive was recovered, and he IN turn was sent
staggering back lines Of refuge. bis losses III
prisoners ran beyond two hundred thousand, with
other casualties in proportion. This was the period
Of the magnificent British victories on the SOmlne
ana OF the brilliant French advance along the Disc
and the AiSnc. &c was the period, too OF the most
notable American achievement. the blotting out of
the St Mihiel salient. The dash and yigOr of our
troops said General Pershipg ii his commdntque
OF September Il, 'and Of the valiant French
divisions which fought shoulder 10 shoulder with
JheIa shown by the fact that the forces attacking
on both faces OF the salient effected junction and
secured the result desired WIthln JWehI!-5eNei
hours. Besides IiberaJing more than one hundred
and fifty square miles Of territory and taking fifteen
thousand prisoners Cthe total was considerably in
excess Of that number have captured a mass OF
material. over one hundred guns OF all callbers
and hundreds of machine guns and trench mOrtar5
have been taken The news OF this substantial
victory in Lorraine acquiring the certain redemption
Of the lost French provinces, put Paris in tumUlt
OF soy: and when it read to Lloyd George on
his sick bed, he telegraphed General Pershing;
This is better for my ailment than all the physic
the doctors have given" The destruction of this
salient which the Germans had held for four years
as "a dagger pointed at the heart of eastern
France" not only freed Verdun from an old menace
and restored valuable railway lines to Allied service,
but also changed the situation into one of sharp
peril to the enemy himself. Ever since the Ameri-
can stroke at ST. Mihiel, the German hold Metz
with its control of the rich iron mines OF Briey,
has been doomed. The full exploitation of the
Allies opportunities in this region has waited
necessarily upon developments farther north and
west but when the hour comes and Foch gives the
word, PeTshing's army Will move irresistibly for
ward-forward to the Rhine, and beyond.
Throughout the campaign, from Chateau
Thierry on FOch's wide-Tanging blows, delivered
with an artists inspiration and skill, all
spired to one tremendous end: not merely the
capture of this that position, not merely the re-
covery of French and Belgian soil nor the invasion
of German territory; but the conquest of the Ger
man will to fight-THE DESTRUCTION OF THE
GERMAN ARMY. How surely he has moved to-
ward that objective the present posture of affairs
strikingIy witnesses The great Hun retreat of to-
day yerging at times upon a rout, is the ripenng
consequence of those fertile operations begun
three months ago. The Allied armies and peoples
at last are reaping the wages of their endurance
and yalor and faith Events of the present month
have changed from deliberate start to lightning
swiftness, and have spread from the Western front
to the wars entire circle Indeed the decisive
turn in the East-the wiping out of the Turkish
forces in Palestine and the truly epic campaign
that put Bulgaria out of the fght-contributed
largely to the Fastening of the denouement in the
West How far il is to the end of the act no one
dares predict. But whether it be month or
year, the Huns will be brought to unconditional
surrender. Right has been indicated against
brutal might; civilization has been saved from
Kultur But it remains to make them forever Sc
cure against the enemy's return.