Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1918-01-17

finds this field i'll a far different corr
! Gitiun than tha which existed 1T the
| opening OF, say. 1919.
There romans the problem of the
! balkans. Unless q Serbia he restored
G,rmanv's program for Mitteleurope
viii be close to realization. Her CON
troll of the Falkans Mil be perpotuated.
her mastery OF the Turkish empire and
her domination of the pa%rdanellcs Will
be continued, fortified. If Serbia be re
stored. substantially as she existed be
fore the war then in due course of time
the Balkan states VIII follow their own
fortunes To independence and prosper
itv. Turkey viii resume her freedom
and. no longer menaced 10y the Russian
danger, may easily sravitate TO her old
alliance with Britain and friendship
With France.
And so, after all, the Serbian. the
Balkan problem remains the greatest
single problem for which no settlement
has Net been foreslladowed by the his
tory of the war. But even this problem
has been simpliiied. The allied dream
OF creating n great Jugo-SlaVic state
from France to Cattaro has unmistak-
ably shrunk With recent vents. The
fact that Austria seems destined to sur
vive and to survive With a measure of
military strength at the end of the war,
makes it highly improbable that the al
lies Will be able to take from her Croa-
tia OF Dalmatia. just as their ability
to talk PENNSYLVANIA and the Bukowina
is open to grave doubt. ConceiVablN,
Bosnia and Herzegovina may yet be
won for Serbia, and if they are, a real
Serb state will be crcatcd; but as
things stand today this is an extreme
hope.
TO restore the status quo ante in the
balkans would be for the allies to win
the war. in terms. because it was to
destroy his situation that Austria in
! NIt,l and (,ntJnl n y liz - would u-ay
Not to erect n Serbian state. with ac-
cess to the sea and thus to her friends.
the maritime powers. would he to cave
open the road to German domination in
Austria, the Balkans and i'm Asiatic
Turkey; ii would be to insure new en-
counters etwee Britain and Germany.
Such being the case, Britain is bound
to insist upon the restoration of Serbia.
and the United States and the french
are bound TO support this British
course, because every moral and ma
tional consideration entities the Serbs
to liberty: and, if their liberty be
sacrificed. if the old Balkan chaos sub
slst after this war, we shall sooner or
later have new rouhles growing out
of fresh virus coming from this tester
ing sore and poisoning the whole world
system as it has i'm the past.
ThlS, if. east and west. things tend
= to reach a condition which may endure.
winch at the congress of Brest- Litovsli
Germany is seeking to put in am endur-
ing form. if allied defense in the west
and Russian collapse in the east have
on the one hand shattered and on the
other fortified German ambitions. il is
clear that in Tho Balkans the solution
IS still to Soell. Serbia remains IN Ger
man hands: but cvery consideration of
honor ana of safety compels the foes
of Germany to resist amy settlement
which does NOT restore Serbia. substan-
TALLY intart, although we arc bound t.
recognize hat the larger aspirations
of the allies. the creation OF ]ueo-
SlaNia. like the italian ambition for
mastery of the eastern Adriatic, haNr
I suffered great and probably cudurine
: di%nninution.
Future Wars Not Removed.
q The greatest dangers that now face
!! he world are not that Germany viii
win The war. tina she viii e~nsllvc Bel
sium or reduce France to the estate OF
a vassal. These dangers are no Longer
n real. What is to be feared is that the
growth of war WEAKNESS VIII BRING
with il q rapid abandonment of all the
idealistic aspirations of the nations u,
war With Germany and that the close
of the war Will see, not a settlement
not Il general liquidation. but u perpetu.
alton of all the old problems. out o1
which the war came and out of which
u other wars seem bound TO come.
p The greatest single gain the war coul,
hrin.-the defeat OF German ambition:
in the west for the destruction %
France and i5ritain-:s now assured
Z not only for the ONE but it woul,
seem for the future, because boil
, Britain and France are likely to be OIL
their guard hereafter, and Britain hal
now millions of raine troops To sen'
10 the aid of the French should anothe
German attack be made within the mex
n decade. The western conditions o
n Europe are not to be modified in Ger
manY's favor, and outside of Europe tn
conditions nave been greatly modifie'
to the disadvantage of Germany, if onl.
by reason of the vast harvest of hat
and contempt she has sown in bel
ligerent and even in neutral countries.
But only less to be desired is n set
tlement which should give the subjec
races of Europe liberty. And, to say tn
least, the chances of realizing this gal
now have been graNeiy reduced b
tussia's ,iesertion. The possibility tina
the chief contestants will present.
come to q peace ON tho basis Of IN
iituation before the war, but with
perpetuation OF al the old rancors an
IL the old wlongs. has become far mon
considerable as a consequence OF tn
vents of the past year.
Il This means that the conditions q
II 1914. the armed truce and The continl
y ailce OF nations in arms. are ullnllStal
!. ably becoming more probable than the
u" seemed ven last year. This is a MOI
reasonable basis for pessimism as I
IL the future than the present militar
il outlook. Peace Will not leave German
in France or Belgium, il will not ieaV