Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-24

be like the final squirt Of a marathon
runner and cannot be long Drawn 1u a.
else the whole army will collapse. Inc
leaders know this last drive IN, mus y,e W
to win or lose in single desperat,s
attack, and every ounce OF strensln
will be employed by the kaiSe,s 81
erals to make good the impsriai vi ptom-
and thus re-establish the Hohenzoi-
lerns in their waning power.
There are billiards in every army anu
Germany has her share. but even tnese
to this final fighting point by the
swashbuckling aims OF the Iiisy
tyrants who drive them to destructioh
and who continue to make them &c
lieve. at least partly, that there on mhs
of disappointment. But these SCORERS
have SO many times gone shoulder 10
shoulder against the death deailhg ne
of the English and the French, nav
so many times been driven BACK oyer
the dead bodies of their comrades. tnat
it is a hard task for a Hindenourg
or even a kaiser to convince them 1nae
this is to be the last time, the lass
EFFORT that will be asked of them, ana
that it will result in the long-promiseo
and long deferred victory.
Hindenburg Plans "Parade."
Hindenburg's talks to his army would
seem to indicate q sublime faith in HIM
self, coupled with an unconcern 1or or a
contempt of the enemy he asks ms
army to destroy. The German prepare,
lions, as learn from conf1dentla
sources, sound more like arrangements
for Vigorous and triumphal paraoe
than desperate onslaught against
what has now become the finest and
strongest amaIgamated military ma
chine the world has ever known, a ma,
chine which, I firmly believe, could
have met and promptly conquered those
mighty and until then invinci6le my
riads that tramped through Belgium
three years ago last August.
This is merely German form OF
camouf1age, intended to lend courage to
an army which every leader knows
needs all the mental bolstering thae
can be given it if it is expected to
make a deep impression on the serried
ranks of the millions of British, French
and Americans who are now waiting
;impatiently for the supreme moment
when the final test of arms and brain
shall come The enemies of Germany
have not been idle while the kaiser's
hosts trained foE the climax and while
all the mechanical power of the kaiser S
lands was urged to its greatest EFFORTS
to prepare: and every shell that Ger
many will be able to hurl into France
will be met by more than its equivalent
from the embattled foe. 1t will be a
mighty struggle for world supremacy,
and democracy must WIN from dutoC-
racy.
Signs of the weakening of the central
powers are seen on every hand. Aus
tria has frankly confessed that she has
had enough. but she dares not defy her
master in Berlin. And now comes the
plea of the Germans for a discontin-
uance of the use of poison gas. the wall
of a naturally cowardly bully when he
finds his own weapon turned against
him. For the enemies of Germany ac-
copied her gas and improved upon it so
vastly that the pupil did more damage
than the inventor.
But the use of this hideous weapon
will not be discontinued, not even at
the request of Geneva. not only be-
cause no faith can be placed in the
word of nation that has shown a
complete disregard for honorsor for
the weakness of those in her power. but
also because it is the purpose of the
allies to conquer the monster in any
fashion and to use their better gas, and
when this vaunted Hindenburg drive
does come his legions will be met by
every deadly weapon at the command
of the enemies of the worlds military
dragon. If gas is discontinued by Ger
many the defeat of the kaiser's forces
will be all the quicker.