The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-01-19
AMERICA SPELLS
GERMAN DEFEAT
Entry Into War Means Victory for
Allies, Says British
Writer.
CONTROL OF FOOD WILL WIN
Now Case In Which "the Dog Has
Begun to Bite the Pig" Says
Understanding Rotten
In Germany.


In Germany.
LOndon.-How Americas entry into
the war has hurt Germany is the sub
iect of an interesting article in the
Birmingham Post by Edgar Wallace,
author and military correspondent. 1t
Is now a case in which "the dog has
begun to bite the pig" he says.
"It is as WELL" Mr.. Wallace writes,
ITO separate the causes of the present
German Offensives from the circum-
stances which have made them pos
Sible. We know that the stagnation
Of the Russian front allows the Ger
mans to employ in the west troops
which, were the Russian army an ac-
tive factor i'm the war, could not have
been employed; I'VE know that the Ital-
ian has lost nearly 100000 men in the
course of the fighting Of the last
month; but neither of these facts ex-
plains the German offensive plan. For
example, the push against the Isonzo
was obviously uninfluenced by Italian
losses-because they had not occurred.
The push against Italy was and is part
Of the great scheme which would GER
tainly have been carried out even If
Russia had remained loyal to the alll-
| ance.
"Reason Is America ."
''The reason is summed up in the
word America ! do not particularly
refer TO the forces which America viii
put into the field. The German gen.
aral staff, l am certain, has no par
! ticular fear that sufficient American
! troops will be put into the field next
year to secure a decision against Ger
many. / doubt very much whether the
! German is worrying at all about what
will happen in the field in the summer
of 1913. But he Is tremendously con-
cerned over what will happen in Ger
many between May and August of that
year unless he can break the fighting
spirit of the entente during the forth:
coming months of the winter.
"It is no secret that Germany had
been drawing large supplies of food
and necessary raw material from
America, via neutral countries. Amer
lca supplied these articles In the way
IF business, just as she supplied Brit
ain with material in the way of busi-
ness, and strictly In the way of busi-
ness the neutral countries had been
passing on their imports to Germany.
"And so this jolly war might have
gone on whilst Germany's credit
abroad held-only America came In.
She declared war, she called millions
Of men, she reorganized her industries
to meet the demands of war-and then
she sat down to take good look at the
neutrals. And they seemed unneces
sarily bloated. They did their best tC
engage her sympathy. And they hat
little bread and potato riots just tc
show there was no deception.
"But America understood. She salt
very simply, Feed yourselves, you bil
stiffs = Qf the picturesque vulgarity bt
allowed).
"In the old nursery rhyme, when the
stick began to beat the dog, the dos
began to bite the pig. IL the neutra
has no food to spare and cannot bu.
any i'm America, the German cannot bu!
food from the neutral. In fact, the dos
has begun to bite the pig. The neu
trails have no right to complain.
Something Rotten In Germany.
$50 many millions of tons of food
stuffs which came to Germany onte ir
the dear dead days are not coming an!
more. She is that much shorter o.
food. We do not know for certain tn,
conditions of Germany's food reserves
: That there is something rotten ther,
we know from the curious attitude o
, Bulgaria.
! "But If the German, with all the sup
plies he was securing from the neutral
was short in the spring of 1917, wha
will be his position In the spring o
, 1918, when the new American embarg
becomes fully operative? We think |
will be fairly bad. The German crop
were poor-as were all the worlds.
{ Nobody but perfectly insane per
t son or a statistician-who will believ
: nything-imagines that the worl
: shortage Of food does not affect Ger
: many. 1t does affect her very serious
t ly 1t will affect her worse this yea
I than 1t did last.
FOOD is going to decide this wal
. The fact that the German censor ha
| closed down all reference to food dii
1 ficulties and coal shortages Is signif
. cant. The things that Germans do nc
:. talk about are the things that matter
II we are witnessing the beginning Q
: series of offensives In the west an
0 the opening Of a new campaign, tha
campaign, as ! have said before, Is
hrnnor. offanciua and thu nlan date