The Washington herald., 1918-01-06
~ JOHN LLOYD BALDERsToN.

Lnl8 - tne winter OF Eu&la14
agony and glory. Upon her has sud
denly fallen the main burden Of the
war. and she must carry It for many
weary months until Uncle Sam Is
ready to take the bulk Of II upon his
less exhausted shoulders.
Faced BY a task 50 great that even
two months ago no one would have
thought il possible OF acconaplishment.
} the men who live on this httle island
can see nothing around them but
darkest storm clouds. and for the
frst time people are asking each
other where the food for their stom-
achs and the soldiers for their armies
l are to come from.
! Russia and her untold millions or
kxoops are out OF the war. Italy Is re-
freed to fight on the defensive after
summoning EngIishmen and French
men to her aid. Germany. myriads OF
soldiers and thousands Of cannon re-
leased from the East. Is crouching for
a spring that shall crush the democ-
racfss OF the West before help from
over the Atlantic can strengthen the
imDerilied forces Of freedom. America
is not ready; France, her glorious
past eclipzed by her deeds in the past
three years. Is bleeding white. her
strength remorselessiy sapped by her
struggles.
Burden on England.
So. as France saved civilization in
1914 and again at verdua last year,
now il Is England to the van. A Job
that staggers the imagination has been
laid upon the empire. In the next few
months England must bear the brunt
OF the war
On land she must encounter the
main shock OF the gathering German
offensive in the West. This nonmili-
tary country. whose citizen armies are
the creation OF little more than three
years. will have to fight to a stand
stil the German army. now for the
first time in this war united on a SIN
gle front. not divided into two parts
struggling in Russia. as well as
France and Flanders. The armies or
France will perform miracles, as al
ways. but Germany can now call Aus
tria to her aid in the West, First It
was France who stopped the foe;
and. because France succeeded. now
It is England who has the glorious
and terrible duty, II in the future
America in turn comes to the fore, II
will be because England wins through
now. as France has done.
But stopping the German main army
Is not all that England must do in
the critical six months OF the war
that are now upon Us. In Italy there
is . British army that may become
the backbone Of a campaign; in Pal
estine and Mesopotamia and at SALON.
Ike British troops must carry on.
At sea, the submarine. as Winston
Chunehil said. must be choked down,
and that Is largely England's- busi-
ness. The commerce of the world
must be safeguarded while the navy
IS held ready to defeat invasion or
a break through to the sea by the
German feet And coal and food
must be provided. although the Brit
ish Islands themselves run perilously
short OF both, to allies less fortu-
nate. while British shipyards do their
share in turning out the ships that
are to make ultimate victory pos
sibIe.
British VIII Make Good.
II have painted the situation in
brutally dark eolors. it has been in
order to say that England has risen
to the emergency. She will make
good 1t takes, misfortune to show
what a man Is really made of. I'm
s.,
that within the two months have
doubled IL not tripled the immediate
responsibilities OF Great Britain, the
British people have stood as firm
as a rock No one who has lived
among them as I have done during
most Of the war. in good and bad
fortune. can doubt that whatever else
happens, England will stick IL out
until German pretentions are beaten
down.
In recent dispatches I have been
able to give official data showing the
serious food conditions prevailing In
Germany, and have discussed the
crises of nerves" that seem to have
assailed the enemy populations, ov-
ing to their privations. at a moment
when on the surface victory appears
within their grasp. I have written
OF what the soldiers think of strate-
Stcal possibilities on the Western
front. and have shown how month
after month and year after year the
dominant positions have been wrest-
ed from the enemy by the British
and French
All these things are true. hut thev
are only one side of the Iicture. No
people. American or British. that q
heart and soul in a struggle, desires
10 be lied to. o. to nave the gcod
news served up AMI the bad news
suppressed. Soldiers and politicians,
etter years OF blunders, are beginning
to learn that. So in this story 1 pro-
pose 10 set down some Of the dis
agreeable features of the situation.
But the reader I think should draw
the conclusion that there is, on
balance. no cause for pessimism, but
only for sustained and intense eff
fort; he should remember that what
lever our troubles may be. the enemy,s
camp is no bed Of roses.
When America SComes over,
Regarding his own difficulties and
our advantages. II Is possible, in spite
of an that Hindenburg despairs Of
getting In the knockout blow before
America, as they say In London.
comes over
Most serious Of the problems of the
lnoment Is the military situation on
tne main front. The consequences Of
a great defeat. such as the allies have
sufrered IN Italy. are far-reachine.
Ike the rfpples that spread outward
1 when stone is tossed into a pond.
IL Is not Italy alone. but an Of us
who sustained a disaster when Won
Below's German divisions broke
through the italian front at Tolmino
on the Isonzo. Some Of the nl-ef-
fects OF that victory We have expe-
trienced already. more are yet 10 be
felt At Saloniki. In Palestine and
Mesopotamia, e. weIl as in France
and Flanders. allied soldiers must die
because Of the temporary Italian coll