Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-10-07

his strength II great 7 doubt n today
he has less than l.00o,o 900 men ON the
western front, and u II a great task TO
gain Anal and complete victory over
= GOO. 600 men. He is still fighting every
where in Allied territory. II he goes
back to the Scheldt, he will still have in
his hands Antwerp, Brussels. the greater
part OF Belgium. a big strip OF northern
and northeastern France and the whole
Of Luxemburg. He will still have saved
his own country from the worst horrors
Of war.
The Germans are n proud people~who
have for more than n generation been
regarded as the first military power In
the world IL IL reasonable to expect
that they viii surrender until they are
convinced that the struggle Is utterly
hopeless? Are they likely To regard the
struggle as utterly hopeless until they
have made a frutless attempt to buy
peace on terms more favorable than com
plete surrender? They may say to US:
You came into the war because we at
tackled Belgium. Well We win evacuate
Belgium. why continue this horrible
slaughter any longer They may say
TO France: "You want Alsace and Lor.
raine. We viii give them to you. Now
let us make peace"
want TO K>ep Russia
They may ofyer US liberal terms, pro-
vided they are left free to exploit RUS
sia and recover from the east Of Europe
what they have lost in the West. shall
We he in the best mood 20 meet such
offers as they should he met II we
nov allow our hopes to soar too high?
But. il will he said, there are otheB
collapse. Turkey Il touering. and vast
prospects are opening out before us in
the Esst. Perfectly true. but distances
in these eastern theatres are great aud
In viii he a matter OF months before We
can turn against our chief enemies the
forces which have been released in Mace
donia and may he released in Turkey
II would, for example. be futile to sup
pose that the enemy will not take any
ana every possible measure in tho Bal
kans TO delay our progress to the Dan
uhe. ON military grounds then. there il
no Justification for the hope that We shall
be able to compel the surrender OF the
Central Powers this year
There are, however. many factors
other than military which enter into the
problem We are in the ffth wear Of
war and all the belligerents with the
possible exception Of America are weary
OF the struggle The German people
have suffered and are suffering grea, pri-
vations. Their industrial and financial
outlook is desperate. u may happen
that when they see how they have
been deceived by their rulers. when they
appreciate the fact that there is no al
Tentative to unconditional acceptance of
our terms. they viii collapse as suddenly
as Bulgaria has collapsed do not
think that this is likely IN the near
future, but | was surprised by what
happened in bulgaria and | may he sur
prised again by what will happen in
Germany Al the present stage of
the war, it would, be foolish to assert
positively th91 r viii not end this year.
but it would be not only foolish but
criminal To act on that assumption,
There s only one sure way to end the
horrors Of this war az quickly as may
be. and that II to maintain and II
possible intensity our efforts. 10 increase
our power TO the extreme limit of our
resources.
When boxer finds that his opponent
Is groggy he does not slacken of him
self II he goes in To win. That Is the
plain duty Of every one of us today