The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1918-01-31

/
Colonel Repington, the military expert
of the London Times, to announce that
there are at present six million German
soldiers, not counting Austrians, Bull.
CARS or Turks. OF these 100000 are
on the fighting fronts, 100000 on the
| lines of communication in conquered
territory, and 100000 in the depots
of the interior of Germany. 1t is true
that the "combing OUT process in Ger
man industry can apparently go no fur
Their, but there are 100000 boys who
reach military age every year. Not on
ly are the German armies six millions
| strong, but they are stronger today
| than ever before.
Much ado was made in the press be
cause $4,000 German prisoners were
captured in the great French and Bit
| ish Offensives in France in one month";
In these battles perhaps 100000 Ger
mans were put out of action. Since
| the close of the battle of the SOmme
last winter, more than 100000 Ger
man boys have grown from children
| into soldiers. 1t is such figures as
| these that Americans should ponder.
Germans Hope to Win On Sea.
German strategy is to hold out or
| land and to win the war at sea. All
hopes of winning q decisive victory on
the west front must have been given
| up when the Somme onslaught COM
| PEELED the cessation Of the great eff
| fort to rupture the French lines at
Verdun. The great truth that the
war must be won upon the west front
is now clear even to the fasteners
who looked early in 1916 to the Medi-
| terranean for q decision.
Speaking with approximate knowl-
edge of the reserves available on the
allied side in the west, the writer
would earnestly ask Americans to re-
member, when they read of German
| divisions decimated and of troops
| thrown into the Arras or Champagne
| furnaces from the German strategic
reserve, that the same process is GO
ing on not on one side only but on
both. If this is kept in mind, the mill
| tary effort of the United States upon
which so much depends will not be
hindered or delayed by irrational OPP
| timiSm.
/ During the coming months recru-
descence of German peace activity is
probable, and this activity will be di-
rected towards capturing the imagin-
atoms of Russian and American ideal
| lists. The absence of such an agitation
would be a sinister sign, for it would
mean that the German high command
seriously believed in the possibility of
winning the war outright by the sub
marine, and debating terms that would
| make all nations vassals of Germany.
Hopes to Trick Opponents.
But it is more likely that Germany
does not believe this ideal attainable,
| and hopes to trick her opponents into
peace which would be in effect a
partial German victory but would wear
the appearance of draw. There are
already signs of these maneuvers,
which of course could be repudiated
| if the submarines were more success
full than is at present thought likely.
German diplomats believe that Ameri-
cans know nothing and care nothing
about affairs in the east and may be
expected to offer liberal terms in the
west which would satisfy the worlds
conscience about Belgium and appeal
to the British, French and American
democracies, while realizing German
aims i'm the east under various diplo-
matte formulas about liberty, auton-
omy and spheres of influence. If this
peace can be arranged, the German
Junkers will remain firmly in the sad
die. The German power will embrace
Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey,
Roumania, Serbia, and Poland, even
though the independence of all these
countries be solemnly guaranteed. Ger
man autocracy will overshadow the
world, and the ideals for which the
democratic powers are fighting become
unrealizable. But America has only
to stick to the war until the Ger
man autocracy is thrown down, by
internal revolution or by force from
outside, and her power and influence
at the peace conference, backed up by
the liberalism of England, France and
Russia, can reorganiZe the world.
The message which the statesmen
of the allies would send to the Ameri-
can people, if they could do SO with
out eating their own words and dis
couraging opinion at home, would be
this: W asf
''The Germans prepared for this
war, and grabbed the spoils of victory
at the start. They are holding on to
tire us out so that they may keep the
substance, if not the shadow, of what
they have won. Thanks to the subma-
rine, they would have succeeded. But
now America has stepped in to redress
the balance, and her weight will en-
able us to win the victory, if, and only
if. she throws herself into the struggle
as she did in the sixties. Otherwise,
the war is a draw, and with things as
they stand a drawn war means a Ger
man success, and an eventual German
Europe and the downfall Of demOc-
racy."
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