The Robesonian., 1918-08-22
Entered as second class mail matter
ut the postoffice at Lumberton, N. c.
FULL OF CONFIDENCE.


Five months ago yesterday the
Germans launched their great often
sive. News that came in Immediately
succeeding days was heart-breaking.
We knew we would win, were bound
to win, at last, but the situation of
the Allies then was desperate and the
fall of Paris and the capture of the
Channel ports by the Germans SEEM
ed probable. For four long months
the Allies hung on by their eyelashes, ;,
it seemed, but there came day when
American troops jumped into the
fight with no idea of doing anything
but licking the Huns; and then be-
gan what correspondent of the Bal
timore Sun in France calls the Epoch
of Reinsurance. The Hun since then
has been pushed back, the menace to
Paris and the Channel ports has been
removed, and many French people, !,
this correspondent writes, actually be-
lieve that the war will be over this
summer-with victory for the Allies,
of course. That is the only way it
can ever end.
Frank H. Simonds, the most famous
American war critic, reviews the past
five months and finds the situation
and conditions for the past month
most favorable for the Allies, and
daily growing more so. We have
lived through two-thirds of the cam
paign Of 1918, he says, and can meas
ure "the slow but sure turn of the
tide which has brought up at the pres
ent moment to a situation where all
the valuable ground lost in the first
four months of the campaign has been
retaken in the fifth and the invaluable
advantage of the initiative has passed
to the allied commander-in-chief."
"Thanks to the Russian collapse"
he continues, "the Germans possessed
on the west front at the outset of the
present campaign a superiority over
the French and British of some forty
divisions, having available 220 against
180. They had, in addition, devised
a new method of attack and were thus
able to score one of the great vic
tories of the war in the March Of
fensive. Again in April in Flanders
and in May in the Isle De France,
along the Aisne, they won victories
hitherto unprecedented in the war of
positions. In all these battles there
was the monotonous record of sue
cess achieved by the massing Of su-
perior numbers at the decisive points
The German, who had
100000 Of fresh troops organized
into 200 divisions on March q, has
now not more than Is divisions Of IN
used troops, numbering not more than
175,G00. Of the 100000
troops, approximately a million nave
been at least temporarily removed by
Nd ho1 &c L
permanently by death or disability OF
German has been obliged to draw up
on depots and call up the young anc
the old, inferior manifestly to the
units of last March,
Contrasting this With the a,Ied
story, Mr.. Sin,onds points out thai
France and Britain had 1870 division.
against 20 last March, also five Bel
gian and two Portugese and a single
American division. After five months
today the French and British alone
have at least 1870 divisions, the fl.
Belgian divisions remain, and tE'
Americans h&d the value Of Is Ger
man divisions, 10000 men, actuall,
engaged in the second battle Of tl
Marine and at that moment the equiv
alent of ten more on the lie. Sine
that time several more American di
,is.ons rave taken their places at tn
front. So at least 220 British, French
American and Belgian divisions ar
now in line, and at least 25 addition
al American divisions are approaching
state Of training where they can b
employed.
'Thus," M simonds saws 9Th
German has lost in five months al
the advantage he originally possess
ed IN superior numbers. He has no,
fewer men on the front and this in
feriority is bound to become more an
more marked as our troops arrive q
the 'front.'
Measuring by events, the sam
facts are revealed. In March. Anr
and May the German won enormou