Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-08-29

OnerS are being taken more easily than
ever before. During my weeks in
France over 10000 prisoners had been
captured by a series of admirably con.
trived local operations, and ii has fire.
duently happened that the number OF
Germans sent back to cages has eX-
ceeded the total casualties of our men
in the engagement. The time was
when we we're pleased when a week
of fierce fighting yielded us such cap.
lures at five times the cost. There
is no dou3t but that parts of the Ger
man army not the whole, but parts
are fighting soft.
German Dcfenses Inadeuuate
Another strong indication that the
enemy's standard Of discipline has de-
clined is to be found in the state of his
defense". The contrast between the
enemy's lines south of the Somme.
which Sir Henry Rawlinson overran
on August 8. and our own trenches
opposite to them. is very remarkable.
Though the Germans had been on the
ground for more than three months of
summer weather. they had prepared no
defensive system at all comparable
with those which in time past thpv
used TO throw up with such astonjsh.
ing rapidity. They were content with
a single front trench without summon,
lines and without communication
trenches. This indicates either great
slackness or great scarcity OF labor.
We used to contrast the enemv's
powers of digging very unfavorablv
with our own. but never during the
worst times of the winter OF 1914.19l5.
in Flanders. with the soil of the con.
nf
so inadequate as those with which the
enemy was content on the Villers- Bre-
tonneuX front.
We know that the Germans have
mao 10 feduco the number and size of
their DIVISIONS. They have, in fact
been forced to begin living on their
man-power capital: and that nrocass
once begun must continue for the tine
being. Their reserves have been re-
duced to a number barely adouuate for
defense. and they have been compelle1
to swallow their pride and aDpeal 70
Austria for help. They are moving
their reserves about and mixing m
thelr formations in a manner which
DettaSS extreme nervousness and
altoSether one has an impression of
weakness In the enemy's ranks greater
than at any other period of the war.
l do not wish to convey the impres-
sion that the German armies In tbe
west are within measurable dista mo-.
of collapse. I have seen a large nurn
Der of prisoners recently taken and
their physique is distinctly good
every bit as good on the average as
that of our own men. They appear n
nave been well fed, and their boots,
clothing and equipment are all ey.
cellont
Foe Using Many Substitutes
Owing to the lack of rubberxhe Ger.
man gas mask is inferior. but that 10
the only important defect in the outfit
or the enemy. He is very short Of
cotton jute and has been forced to
Introduce sandbags, web equipment
and machine-gun belts made of psner
fiber. But these articles serve their
purpose, and provided he can turn
them out In sufficient quantities to
make up for the great wastaEe he
should not suffer
He has not yet put in his 1920 class
and when ii does appear in the ranks
1t will have much more training than
our boys had this year. 1t is now
certain that a month ago we over
estimated the enemy's power. and that
he underestimated the power of the
Allies. OF the two mistakes, the for
mer is much the less deadly, and we
must not be carried away by the great
successes which we are now winning,
The military map is still very much in
the enemy's favor. Our own troops
and the French have had hard year,
while the American forces are far from
fully developed. The enemy is still
formidable, and we have not yet the
superiority of force necessary to crush
him.
But 1t is quite certain that his mill.
! tary power is on the decline. and if we
| play our cards properly we can in
good time turn this decline into a col
| lapse