The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-03-09

uepeuu upon Ine HrOCestanC re-
hgion of the small population of
a half million which it contains
to remain pitted against the
Catholic populations of the
southern neighbors.
Rumania she intends to keep
asst is now, divided in half with
more than three million Ruman-
ians subject to Magyar rule, but
she will add to Rumania Bess-
arabia as a source of friction
against the Ukraine, in so far as
this last state can be said to have
any real national feeling.
Will Master Ukraine
And Control Black Sea.
The Ukraine she will pit
against Poland by creating an
artificial false frontier and sub
jecting many hundreds Of thou
sands of Poles to alien rule, and
she will protect" that large
territory, keeping it in strict eco
nomic dependence, controlling
Odessa, mastering the Black sea,
cutting off northern Russia from
warm water and preventing one
Of the richest granaries of Eu-
rope from feeding the western
part of the continent.
Lastly, we should remember
what this great German scheme
means in mere figures. There is
a doubtful element in the consti-
tuition Of the Ukraine which, ac-
cOrding to whether it is made
larger or smaller, shows a diff
ference of five million in popu-
lation. But with the Ukraine
even In its narrowest limits this
cOngeries Of new, largely arti-
ficial and opposed states will ac-
tually double the German empire
in numbers. With the Ukraine
at its largest they will more than
double it.
There were before the war
nearly seventy million souls
within the limits of the German
empire, including, of course, the
annexed populations governed
against their wills in the Polish
and Danish provinces and in AL
sace-LOrraine. In the new dis
tricts, which will be subject to
the central empires, there is an
other sixty-five to seventy mil
lion. AS for the dimensions of
this district, the extreme length
is a thousand miles, and the aver
age breadth perhaps three hun
dred, the extreme breadth, ac-
cOrding to the limits of the
Ukraine, being from six hundred
and fifty to nearly eight hun
dred miles.
That is the state we have be-
fore us. That is the price to
hold which the Germans are seek
ing negotiated peace and the
liberation of which can only be
effected by our victory.
Another vital matter, which
it is we'll to understand before
the military operations recon-
mence, and with which the
American public may be unfamil-
lar, is the question of civilian
morale in Europe. Man is a citi-
zen of a nation through an idea,
just as he is a member Of a re-
igion through an idea. But,
also, he is himself-he suffers in
his body or in his immediate do
nestle affections-in far more
positive fashion.
When the idea Of a nation
weakens and individual suffer
ing or fatigue obscures it, then
for the purposes of war between
nations this moral factor de-
clines. 1t may be reinforced by
one policy, weakened by another.
What is the gauge of it today
What sort Of barometer can we
CONSULT That depends upon
our judgment-our right judg-
ment-of the war under these
last conditions of extreme strain.
Just as under the earlier condi-
tions our judgment was based
upon our calculation Of numbers
in men and material.
A perfect answer could be
given only by a mind at once
quite impartial among all the
belligerents and at the same time
perfectly informed. But a rough
answer can be given by any one
with fair information who has
made continuous study of the
campaign. / think this rough
answer is best arrived at by COM
pairing the probable present
views Of the various governments
and the populations dependent
upon them.
The Attitude Of
the Central Powers.
First, let us consider the attl-
tude of the central powers. The
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