The Washington herald., 1918-07-20
HOUSE SOLONS
HOLD VICTORY
now TN SIGHT
Military Affairs Committee
Gets Cheering AdMces
In Weekly Review.
VISIT MARCH FOR NEWS
Chief of Staff Counsels
Against Over-Estimating
Present Success.
VISIT MARCH FOR NEWS

The Germans have lost all chance
OF capturing Paris in the opinion OF
the House military Affairs Commit
tee who studied the latest war news
M the office of Gen. March yester-
day morning. The members of the
committee, visiting the War De-
partment for their regular confer
ence. reached the conclusion after
going over all the dispatches at
hand. that the triumph Of the
Franco-American forces marks the
beginning Of retrograde move
ment on the. part Of the Germans,
which has turned the boaster Of
fensive into a signal defeat.
Gen. March impressed upon the
committeeman the necessity of not
becoming oversanguine regarding
the allied victory. and pointed out
that the territory involved was on
only a small sector of the front.
At the same time, he conveyed to
them the general feeling of gratif-
cation that pervades the War De-
-partmsnt over the advance of the
American contingent.
According to the figures furnish
ed to the Representative. there are
twelve divisions OF American troops
on the French front. eight OF which
were engaged in the recent fighting.
Two divisions were in the forefront
of the recent advance, these being
the New England and Rainbow di-
visions.
$4,000 shells Daily.
The Americans are firing 1900 shells
Of large caliber every day. the reports
show. and some of these are being
fred from 75-millimeter guns made in
the United States. The improvement
in the manufacture of de Haviland
planes is shown by the fact that $50
have been delivered, and 433 of these
have been shipped to France The
number of Liberty motors manufac-
tured has mounted to 537.
There has been a steady improve
Jnent also in the rapidity of troop
movements across the Atlantic, the
committeeman learned. Men are now
being transported at the rate of 5000
a week, and the time of the trans
ports has been cut down to 90 days
for the round trip.
Representative Kahn OF California,
who attended the conference, was
greatly pleased with the figures from
abroard, but said that the people must
not expect too much from the effen-
sive. He looks for the real offensive
to come a few months later in the
year. He said:
Germans Must Revise Views.
THE counter offensive launched by
the French and American forces which
resulted in acquiring so much terri
tory held by the enemy. must prove
highly gratifying to every loyal
American. II must convince the Ger
man nation that the American soldier
IL to be reckoneJl with in the future.
Probably the wish has been father to
the thought in Germany, that Ameri-
cans could not be trained in a COM
parGtively short time to do effective
work on the battlefields of Europe.
The German high command will
have to revise its view
THE American soldier will prove
his prowess to the satisfaction of the
world. We must not. however, be
caErted away because we have gained
a ftetory. We must not cease IN the
slightest our preparation for the win
ming of the war. We must send men,
more men and still more men as
speedily as possible. Therein lies our
hops of success.
Il believe that this is the beginning
of the retrograde movement on the
part OF Germany. 1t may be another
six months before we will be able to
drive the enemy back constantly. But
the beginning has been made on a
splendid scale. 1t will hearten the
American people and will stifren the
courage of the co-belligerent nations.
All honer to the officers and men who
have achieved such a brilliant re-