The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-04-27
A LONG WAR AHEAD

cept a decision regardless OF which
way it goes, or they will have to relin-
quish the whole of the coast with all
the channel ports, retiring southwark
to join the French. In that way new
line could be formed extending west
ward. from the French sector to the
coast
Such a retirement would involve
great difficulty and danger as the
Germans would strain every effort to
, break thru at the south end of the
British front and cut General Haig's
army off The retirement would have
to be made quickly and enormous
quantities of artillery, munitions and
other war supplies would have to be
destroyed OF left in German hands, as
there would be no time in which to
remove them.
A retreat of that sort. if success
| means so disastrous to the allied
cause as would appear on first
| thought.
The new line would be shortened and
| easier % hold and tie armies would
have all of France behind them with
vantage There would be no further
possibility of separating the British
| from the French or of driving the for
mer into the sea-
The Value of the Channel Ports.A
If the retirement were executed
| without too heavy sacrifices OF men
and materials, the military situation
of the allied armies would be mater
| tally improved. The British do not
bring their supplies into France by
the channel ports as is commonly
supposed Those ports Nave No
suitable harbors and their docks ana
| terminal facilities are far too meager.
The great port of Havre at the mouth
| of the River Seine, sixty or seventy
miles southwest Of Amiens and nearly
west of Paris, is the British base on
the coast and thru it come practically
all of the British supplies;
| The Importance of the channel
| ports lies in the use the Germans
would make of them as submarine
bases. Their capture ought nearly to
double the effectiveness of the cam
| paign against British shipping. That
is why these otherwise minor ports
must be defended so desperately.
The Worst Over?
| There are many reasons for believ-
| ing that the worst of the German
drive is over and that the time is not
far distant when the allies can again
! take the offensive. But even at the
worst, only colossal laundering on the
part of the allied commanders can re-
suit in the destruction of the British
army, and as long as the allied armies
| remain intact the future remains
bright for the western democracies.
The present German drive will pro-
long the war indefinitely, possibly for
years. if the British are compelled to
retire from Flanders and northern
France
German Strength Great.
/ This springs campaign has revealed
the fact that the German had more
men and more reserve power thar
anybody had supposed. Apparently
] they have at least as many land per
haps more men on the western front
than the allies. and certainly they are
materially superior in artillery and
munitions. The artillery situation was
foreseen last winter. Nearly all OF
TRAN, that had been in use agains,
| Russia was transferred to the west
Moreover. immense quantities of Rus
sian artillery and shells fen into Ger
man hands and have been turned
gainst the allies. Most of these guns
are of French and British make and
are as good as any that either side
possesses The German gunpower was
further augmented by the capture OF
something like fifteen hundred cannon
and immense stores of munitions in
Italy last fall and has gained added
strength by the capture of a thousand
; British guns in the recent fighting
together with large stores of British
shells.
German Gunpower Caused Retreat
In my judgment it has been the